Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Banks Won't Accept Banknotes with Scribbling (India)




Financial Express [India]
31 December 2013


PTI | Mumbai

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) today asked people not to fall prey to rumours circulating that banks would not accept banknotes with scribbling from January 1, 2014.

"In the wake of rumours circulating in the market that from January 1, 2014, banks will not accept banknotes with anything written on them, the RBI has urged members of public not to fall prey to such rumours and to use their banknotes without any fear," RBI said in a notification. […]




The Hindu
3 January 2014


Staff Reporter

[…] However, many people complained that shopkeepers have stopped accepting notes with scribbles, stating that they were now out of circulation owing to an RBI directive.

Kanchan Bisht, a Delhi resident, said: “While paying my electricity bill, the official refused to accept a scribbled note and said such notes are no more valid. Then I was told that the RBI has issued some instructions in this regard.”

Rakshita, a resident of South Delhi, said: “I’m unable to use one Rs.500 note because it has something written on it. I tried making two transactions with that note, but shopkeepers refused. My relatives who live in West Bengal have also raised similar concerns.”

Raunak Sinha, who belongs to Patna and is presently in the Capital, said he was shocked when an attendant at a grocery store declined to accept a scribbled Rs.1,000 note.

“Even auto-rickshaw drivers have refused to take such notes as they think they are invalid, said Delhi University student Kirti Sharma. […]