Old Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes can be used to pay government dues till Friday

Citizens can now pay their government dues of any kind including electricity/landlines phone bills etc using Rs 500 and 1000 notes till November 11. The Centre's decision to allow this has come on the suggestion of Maharashtra government.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had written a letter to the Prime minister on Wednesday seeking the concession. "One more step by the state government for citizens' convenience. The Government of India accepts the state government's request to further help citizens by allowing Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes for payment of electricity bill, water bill, property tax or any kind of government dues," Fadnavis said in a tweet. He said this will be implemented with immediate effect and remain in force till Friday midnight.

"To avoid inconvenience to the public, old high denomination bank notes may also be accepted by government, state owned enterprise and local bodies (urban and rural) until the midnight of 11th Nov 2016. However, the amount so accepted would be restricted to raised demand only. The amount may be accepted only from the concerned individual /individual entity against whom the dues exist. Third party may also deposit subject to authorisation, " reads the notification issued by the  state government.

Speaking on the issue, Brijesh Singh, secretary of state's information department said the message has already been conveyed to all local government bodies by the government.

Earlier in the day, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that steps taken to scrap old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000  will have long-term impact on the Indian economy. He also added that small depositors need not to worry, only those with undisclosed huge amount would face consequences.

RBI and several banks have taken some measures and extended their working hours, banks will be open on weekends as well, the finance minister said. Jaitley also said that there will be an impact on small purchases for a few days.

Long queues were seen outside banks as they opened after a day’s off on Thursday.