The Centre on Thursday extended the usage of old notes for payment of public utilites bill till December 15, but ended the deadline for over the counter exchange of the banned Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

Government also extended the suspension of toll collection on all national highways till December 2 midnight.

The notification said that the payments for public utility bills under all the exempted categories will now be accepted only through old Rs. 500 notes.

In a shock announcement on November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that Rs 500 and 1,000 banknotes would be withdrawn from circulation in a bid to crack down on corruption and counterfeit currency.

However, a string of measures was deployed to mitigate public inconveniences resulting from the ban on the two high-value banknotes, which accounted for 86% of the currency in circulation in the country.

The scrapped notes were valid till Thursday or November 24 for key utilities, including payments towards bills for water and electricity, fees, charges, hospital bills, taxes and penalties payable to central and state governments (including civic bodies).

People were allowed to make ATM cash withdrawal up to Rs 2,500 per day and Rs 2,000 from select fuel pumps of state-owned oil companies. A savings account holder could withdraw up to Rs 24,000 per week from banks and Rs 50,000 a week from current account, provided it has been in operation for at least three months.

The demonetised Rs 1,000 and 500 notes could be exchanged at banks with valid currency worth Rs 2,000. The remaining amount had to be deposited. Any amount could be deposited in banks in scrapped currency till December 30 and PAN card details would be required if the total deposit over the allowed period amounts to over Rs 2.5 lakh.

As the wedding season is on in the country, the groom, bride or their families could draw cash up to Rs 2.5 lakh in cash from their KYC-compliant bank account. In a relief to farmers in the sowing season, the government also let them withdraw Rs 25,000 in cash per week and pay for seeds in scrapped Rs 500 notes.

Central government employees up to Group C were allowed withdraw Rs 10,000 in advance from their salary to be adjusted with their November salary. #casansaar (PTI - Hindustan Times)