Central Bank to take old $100 bills till March

The Central Bank assures it will accept cotton $100 notes up to three months after the December 31 deadline, depending on the circumstance and with good reason.

These old notes will cease to be legal tender on January 1, 2020, replaced by the new polymer $100 bill.

In a public notice on Tuesday, the Central Bank said it will accept old bills “if it is satisfied that the failure to present the notes for redemption prior to the appointed date resulted from circumstances beyond the control of the true owner of the notes or that there was some other good or sufficient reason for the failure.”

The release appeared to answer questions raised by the Supermarkets' Association over logistical issues concerning the demonetisation process. Some of the association's concerns included not being able to adequately meet the December 31 close-of-business deadline to deposit old notes at commercial banks.

The Central Bank said it will give commercial banks a “reasonable time period” to redeem old notes collected from the public up to December 31.

It will also accept bills to facilitate the collection of taxes and other forms of revenue from government bodies for “a period to be determined.”

The release also assured that commercial banks will be allowed to accept old bills from merchants or organisations on January 2 and 3, but added that it would be in each merchant’s best interest to verify before the end of the period whether their respective banks will accept the bills. The Central Bank will not accept the bills from merchants or organisations after December 31 without good reason.

The bank will also accept bills from people who are incapacitated, out of the country or unable for legal or other serious reason to deposit the bills within the appropriate time.

The transition from cotton to polymer notes was announced on December 5 by the government as a national security measure to make a dent in profits from criminal activity. The bills were delivered to the Central Bank on December 7, distributed to commercial banks on December 9 and made available to the public from December 10, giving people just about three weeks to exchange their cash or risk it being rendered worthless, sparking a rush and some confusion about the exchange process, with some businesses refusing to accept old $100 notes well before the deadline.