New Delhi: Facing severe attack in the wake of difficulties thrown up by demonetisation, the government on Thursday night extended till December 15 the facility of using old Rs 500 notes in public utilities and included more services but stopped the over-the-counter exchange of defunct currencies and use of Rs 1,000 notes.
Payment of fees up to Rs 2,000 per student has been allowed in schools and colleges run by Central and states governments, municipalities and local bodies. Payment towards prepaid mobile top-up to a limit of Rs 500 per recharge has also been allowed while purchase from consumer cooperative stores will be limited to Rs 5,000 at a time, an official release said.
Scrapped note exchange has fallen, says Centre
Current and arrears dues payments will be limited to only water and electricity for individuals and households. However, the release said payments for the transactions under all the exempted categories will now be accepted only through old Rs 500 notes.
Explaining the reason for discontinuance of excha-nge of the defunct notes, the release said it has been observed that over-the-counter exchange of the old notes has shown a declining trend.
It has further been felt that people may be encouraged and facilitated to deposit their old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in their bank accounts.
The exemptions were initially announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he disclosed the demonetisation scheme on November 8. Subsequently there have been modifications in these measures.
The release said the government has been reviewing the issues arising out of the cancellation of the legal tender character of the high value notes.
There has been large-scale criticism of the government in the wake of severe hardships faced by a cross-section of people following demonetisation of high denomination currency.
Banks have been asked to encourage public who approach them for over the counter exchange of such currency to deposit the notes into their bank accounts.
How demonetisation panned out over the last 16 days
- November 8: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement, RBI scrapped 500 and 1000 notes.
- All banks shut for customers on November 9 to make arrangements for the new scheme.
- Exchange of scrapped notes of up to Rs 4,000 allowed. Bank withdrawals capped at Rs 10,000 per day and Rs 20,000 per week. ATM withdrawals capped at Rs 2,000 per day till November 18 and Rs 4000 from November 19.
- Scrapped notes were allowed to be used at petrol pumps, milk booths, train and bus tickets, etc.
November 9
Old notes upto Rs 5,000 were allowed to be used by passengers at international airports.
November 10
- Payment systems (RTGS, NEFT, Cheque Clearing, Repo, CBLO and Call markets) will remain open on Saturday, November 12 and Sunday, November 13, 2016.
- Deposits above Rs 2.5 lakh to face tax, penalty on mismatch
- Government suspends highway toll till November 11 midnight
November 11
- Authorised persons allowed to issue prepaid instruments to foreign tourists in exchange of foreign exchange tendered.
- After heavy demand for tickets, railways refuse to refund ticket cancellations in cash.
- Government extends use of old notes for paying public utility bills by another 72 hours.
November 12
- The Central government has allowed payment of fees, charges, taxes and penalties payable to the Central and State Governments including Municipal and Local Bodies in demonetised notes. Such old notes will also be accepted for making payment of utility charges for water and electricity etc.
- Railways will accept scrapped notes till November 14.
November 13
- New high-security 500 notes released for distribution
- The limit for exchange of old notes over the counter has been increased from the existing Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,500. The daily limit on withdrawal from ATMs increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500. Weekly cap on withdrawal hiked to Rs 24,000 and ends the daily cap limit.
November 14
- ATM charges were waived for savings bank customers till December 30.
- Current account holders allowed to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 in a week.
- Banks asked to deploy their micro ATMs and operate mobile vans for providing exchange, deposit or withdrawal facilities in remote areas.
- Weekly withdrawals by District Co-operative Banks capped at Rs 24,000.
November 15
Banks and post offices were asked to put indelible ink mark on the figure of those who exchanged the old notes.
November 16
- PAN made must for depositing more than Rs 50,000 in cash in their bank account.
- Banks and post offices were asked to report cash deposits of over Rs 2.5 lakh to the income-tax department.
November 17
- The limit of exchange of old notes over-the-counter at banks reduced to Rs 2,000 with effect from November 18, 2016.
- Select petrol pumps to dispense cash up to Rs 2000
- AAI to allow temporary note exchange counters at airports.
November 18
The limit for cash withdrawal at POS was made uniform at Rs 2,000 per day across all centres for all merchant establishments enabled for this facility. There will not be any levy of customer charges for such transactions.
November 21
- Small borrowers were given additional 60 days window to repay their loan overdues.
- Allows withdrawal of Rs 2.5 lakh for weddings.
- Holders of current / overdraft / cash credit accounts, which are operational for the last three months or more, allowed to withdraw upto Rs 50,000 in cash, in a week.
- Farmers allowed to withdraw upto Rs 25000 per week in cash from their loan or deposit accounts. Traders were allowed to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 from their current accounts.
- Farmers allowed to buy seeds with old currency notes.
November 22
- Curbs on wedding funding eased
- Scrapped notes are accepted for deposits in small saving schemes
- The limit for prepaid payment instruments enhanced to Rs 20,000 from Rs 10,000, with a monthly cap of Rs 20,000.
- Big Bazaar and petrol pumps to dispense Rs 2,000 by swiping debit cards.
November 23
- Banks waive merchant discount rate for all debit cards till December 31
- Banks open special counters at airports for passengers
- Fertiliser companies have asked to sell urea on credit to farmers
- IRCTC ticket charge is also exempted.
November 24
- Exchange of scrapped notes over-the-counter stopped.
- Extends exemptions on use of old Rs 500 note till December 15. No exemption for 1000 note.
- Old notes can be used to pay fees — up to Rs 2,000 — in schools and colleges run by central and states governments, or local bodies.
- Old notes can be used to pay for prepaid mobile top-up to a limit of Rs 500 per recharge. Purchase from consumer cooperative stores capped at Rs 5,000 at a time
- Current and arrears dues payments in old notes will be limited to only water and electricity.
- Toll payment may be made through old Rs 500 notes from December 3 to December 15
- Foreign citizens will now be permitted to exchange foreign currency up to Rs 5000 per week.
Places 500 is accepted
- Public hospitals
- Railway tickets
- Public transport
- Airline tickets
- Milk booths
- Petrol pumps
- Metro rail tickets
- Medicine prescribed by a doctor
- LPG gas cylinders
- Railway catering
- Power and water bills
- ASI entry tickets
- Consumer cooperative stores
- Taxes and penalties, and court fees
- Seeds at state-owned outlets
- Crematoria/burial grounds
