Citizens confused over cancellation of old Rs 500 note

The old Rs 500 banknote would be cancelled from October 1 and September 30 (today) is the last date for exchanging these notes from the banks. The cancellation of old currency banknotes has created a lot of confusion in the general public and they are reluctant in even accepting other denominations of old currency banknotes. The old currency notes of Rs500 were introduced in mid 1980s and at that time due to appreciation of Pak rupee, it was considered a big denomination.
However, in the start of 2002, the SBP introduced small currency notes to replace the old ones. An official of SBP said in the future, old denominations of Rs 10, 50, 100 and 1,000 would also be cancelled. The SBP has announced to cancel old currency banknotes of Rs 500 and has instructed people to return these notes to banks and get new notes. The general public has already stopped getting these notes from one another. It is also pertinent to mention that many shopkeepers have stopped accepting old notes of Rs 500 from the month of August despite the fact these notes were to be cancelled in October.
The confusion also prevails in majority of people and they have also stopped accepting old notes of Rs 100 and 1,000. The shopkeepers and business community said that it has created a lot of problems for them, as they have to convince their customers that there is nothing wrong with the old banknotes of Rs 100 and Rs 1,000. “Often, I have to tell the customers that only Rs 500 old currency notes are cancelled and there is nothing wrong with other denominations,” said a gold jeweler Muhammad Irfan adding, however, many customers do not understand and insist on being given fresh notes.
“Even educated people ask us for not giving old currency banknotes of Rs 100 or Rs 1, 000,” he added. Another businessman Aslam Khan said that mostly women don’t accept old notes. “We are in a trouble because of change in currency notes,” he added. The private businessmen, petrol pumps and shopkeepers have already stopped accepting these banknotes. The SBP spokesman said the SBP would not be liable to pay any value for the old note after the deadline.