Old Rs. 500 notes can be used for buying fuel, air tickets only till tomorrow

The deadline for using old Rs. 500 notes at petrol pumps and for airline tickets at airports has been cut short to December 2, instead of December 15, as announced earlier, a government notification said.

While junking old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 rupee notes on November 8, the government had allowed their use for utility bill payments for 72 hours.

This deadline was extended twice and when the last one was to expire on November 24, it amended it to state that only the old Rs. 500 notes could be used for payment of utility bills like electricity and water, school fees, pre-paid mobile top-up, fuel purchase and airline ticket booking.

The old note will continue to be accepted for other utility bill payments as well as at railway ticketing counters and counters of government or public sector undertaking buses for purchase of bus tickets till December 15.

Also, the government has dropped its earlier announced plan to allow the use of Rs. 500 notes for payment of toll at national highways from December 3.

Toll payment in both old Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes was accepted till December 2, and from December 3, it was to be limited to Rs. 500 notes. But now, this facility too has been withdrawn.

Sources said the move to curtail use of old notes at petrol pumps and highway toll plazas follows reports of the facility being misused to launder black money.