The facility for exchanging pre-2005 banknotes will be available only at select offices of the Reserve Bank of India from July 1, 2016, the central bank said in a statement.

The RBI said a major portion of the pre-2005 banknotes have been withdrawn from circulation and only a small percentage of these notes remain in circulation.

The RBI offices where the pre-2005 notes can be exchanged are located in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.

The central bank had, in December 2015, set June 30, 2016, as the last date for the public to exchange pre-2005 banknotes at identified bank branches and its issue offices. The Reserve Bank also clarified that these pre-2005 banknotes will continue to remain legal tender.

The RBI stated that it is a standard international practice not to have currency notes from multiple series remaining in circulation at the same time.

Soliciting cooperation from members of the public in withdrawing these banknotes from circulation, the RBI urged them to exchange pre-2005 banknotes at its offices, at their convenience.

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