The deadline for depositing and exchanging scrapped Rs 500 and 1000 notes for Indian citizens who were abroad during November-December 2016 will end today, according to guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank India.

The deadline for depositing and exchanging scrapped Rs 500 and 1000 notes for Indian citizens who were abroad during November-December 2016 will end today, according to guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank India. The RBI had also allowed NRIs to exchange the scrapped notes up to June 30. This facility is available at RBI offices in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Nagpur only. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to the nation on November 8 had said, “There may be some who for some reason, are not able to deposit their old Rs 500 or Rs 1,000 rupee notes by December 30, 2016. They can go to specified offices of the Reserve Bank of India up to March 31, 2017 and deposit the notes after submitting a declaration form.” But one has to keep in mind that there are certain eligibility criteria. Make sure you follow those else you will end up wasting your precious time and energy standing in long queues!

Here are the key points you should note

1. The 50-day deadline to deposit the old Rs 500/1,000 notes in banks had come to an end on December 30. The government had said people, however, will still have time to exchange the currency notes at designated RBI counters till March 31 after giving valid reasons for not depositing defunct notes in their accounts by December 30.

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2. After the deadline to exchange the scrapped notes expired on December 30, 2016, the government issued an ordinance saying only those who were abroad, the armed forces personnel posted in remote areas, or others who could give valid reasons for not being able to deposit the cancelled notes, can do so till March 31. The issue about the time limit for converting old currency notes is also being heard by the Supreme Court where Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi has reportedly submitted that the law will prevail over the words of PM Modi.

3. Why was not the conversion of old currency notes allowed till March 31, 2017 for Indians as assured by PM Modi in his speech on November 8 announcing demonetisation? The RBI has refused to answer the question under the Right to Information (RTI) Act claiming the query does not come under the definition of “information” as per the transparency law

4. A few days ago, in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal had said ineligible persons queuing up at the Reserve Bank were responsible for longer queues. The minister said the RBI has posted detailed instructions on its website clearly showing the eligibility parameters and other necessary documents required to be tendered for exchange of old notes. “Long queues are formed in Mumbai and Delhi only as a number of persons from the neighbouring states are turning up here. Several staff members have been engaged to attend to the large number of people at the counters,” Meghwal said.

5. Meghwal stated that while there is no monetary limit for exchange of currency notes for residents who were abroad during the demonetisation period, there is a cap for NRIs as per FEMA regulations. NRIs coming to India are required to come through Red Channel disclosing to the Customs authorities at the airport the amount of now-defunct notes and secure a certificate to be tendered at the RBI at the time of exchange.

(With agency inputs)