MUMBAI: Persons of Indian origin (PIOs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) left with Indian demonetised currency after a visit to their country of origin are in for a disappointment. The grace period until June 2017 available for non-resident Indians to deposit scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes is available only to Indian citizens.PIOs and OCIs attempting to get their notes exchanged from the central bank are being turned away even though they have not been in India from November 8 to December 31. In an updated ‘frequently asked questions’ list, the central bank specifically said that PIOs and OCIs are excluded from the scheme.Although both the government and the RBI at the time of demonetisation had said that the central bank would provide a facility to exchange demonetised notes until March 2017, the final ordinance did not have this provision. The government issued a gazette notification stating that the facility would be available to all Indian citizens who were outside India from November 9 to December 30, 2016.Following the government notification, the RBI said that the scheme can only be availed by those who were abroad during November 9, 2016 to December 30, 2016. Resident Indian citizens who were abroad can avail this facility up to March 31, 2017 and Non Resident Indian citizens who were abroad can avail this facility up to June 30, 2017.Overseas Citizen of India was a scheme introduced by the government in response to demands for dual citizenship by the Indian diaspora.The scheme was introduced by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2005 in August 2005 and enables foreign passport holders to visit India without a visa using the OCI card. The PIO card was earlier issued to people of Indian origin. The scheme was subsequently merged with the OCI scheme.According to bankers, widening the grace period to foreign citizens could make it difficult for enforcement authorities to regulate. “Anyone who has visited India in the past can be used for exchanging demonetised notes,” said a banker.