RBI announces facility for NRIs to exchange old notes

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Saturday said that it will introduce a facility for exchange of old specified bank notes for Indian residents and NRIs, who were abroad from November 9 to December 30. According to a RBI notification, Indian residents, who were abroad during November 9 to December 30, 2016 can avail the new facility up to March 31, 2017, while NRIs can avail it up to June 30. "While there is no monetary limit for exchange for the eligible resident Indians, the limit for NRIs will be as per the relevant FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) regulations," said the RBI notification. "They can avail this facility in their individual capacity once during the period on submission of ID documents, such as Aadhaar number, Permanent Account Number (PAN) etc, and on submission of documentary evidence showing they were abroad during the period and, that they have not availed the exchange facility earlier." The country's central bank elaborated that third-party tender will not be accepted under the new facility. "On fulfilment of the terms and conditions and the genuineness of the notes tendered, admissible amount will be credited to the tenderer's KYC (know your customer) compliant bank account," the notification said. "The facility will remain open for residents from January 2, 2017 to March 31, 2017 and for NRIs from January 2, 2017 to June 30, 2017. This facility will be available through Reserve Bank offices at Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur." The notification added that Indian citizens residing in Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan and Bangladesh cannot avail this facility.