This Citizen's Charter provides information on various facilities provided by the Reserve Bank of India in the matter of exchange of notes and coins and the common standards of the services provided at RBI Issue Offices and commercial bank branches.

The RBI Offices, where Issue Department is functioning, offer the facility to members of the public to exchange their notes including soiled and mutilated notes and coins including uncurrent or worn out coins. The Bank is committed to provide exchange facility free of cost at its counters during business hours.

The facilities are provided at the counters of the Bank's Regional Offices located at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Belapur (Navi Mumbai), Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna and Thiruvananthapuram.

4 Exchange of notes into coins with the help of coin dispensers

Members of the general public can also get their notes exchanged into coins using the coin dispensers installed in the banking halls of the Reserve Bank's Regional Offices.

Members of the general public can avail themselves of the following facilities at the counters of the Bank's Offices.

(a) Exchange soiled notes. A note which has become limp or which has developed minor cuts due to wear and tear or which is disfigured by oil; color, ink, etc. will be treated as soiled note. To facilitate easy exchange, notes which have been divided vertically through or near the centre with numbers intact are also treated as soiled notes. Notes on which political or religious slogans are written are not exchangeable under any circumstances.

(b) Exchange mutilated notes. A mutilated note is a note of which a portion is missing or a note which is composed of pieces, provided that the note presented is not less than half of the area of the note and that, if the note is composed of a note joined together, each piece is, in the opinion of the 'Prescribed Officer' [as defined in the RBI (Note Refund) Rules] identifiable as part of the same note.

(c) Exchange of coins including uncurrent coins into notes or coins.

In order to provide note exchange facility to members of the public who cannot wait at the Bank' s counters to tender their mutilated/cut notes, the Bank's Offices provide a facility of depositing mutilated/cut notes in a locked box called 'Triple Lock Receptacle (TLR)'. The TLR box is kept near a specified counter and notes can be dropped into the box in a closed cover which can be obtained from the enquiry counter. The tenderers are required to write the particulars of the notes tendered by them, their name, address and bank account number on the cover. Members of the public can also send mutilated notes by insured and registered post to RBI Offices. In their own interest, such covers should be sent through Registered and Insured post. The exchange value of notes which are found payable under the Note Refund Rules is credited to the bank account of the tenderer through Electronic Clearing Service which is at present free of cost. In case the tenderer does not have bank account or the place where he resides does not have a clearing service, the exchange value is remitted by means of bank draft/money order at the cost of the tenderer. The TLR facility is available only for mutilated/cut notes and not for soiled notes.

(i) The exchange facility over the Bank's counters is available during the business hours of the respective Regional Office and is free of cost.

(ii) The serial numbers of counters where exchange facility is made available at each Office are displayed at the banking hall of each Office of the Bank.

(iii) Mutilated/cut notes in closed covers are received in Triple Lock Receptacle upto one hour after the close of normal business hours.

(iv) The mutilated/cut notes are exchanged by the Bank as of grace under the Reserve Bank of India (Note Refund) Rules. When the mutilated/cut note is not found payable under the Rules, the same is rejected and rejection advice issued to the tenderer. The rejected note is retained by the bank and destroyed after four months.

(v) Notes/coins which are found to have been forged/ counterfeited are impounded and no value thereof is paid. Such notes/coins are retained by the Bank after issue of advice to the tenderer.

(vii) In case any member of the public faces any difficulty in getting the above exchange facilities at any RBI Offices or is asked for any bribe, he may record a complaint in the complaint book/register maintained at the enquiry counter of the Regional Office or bring it to the notice of the in-charge of the Issue Department of the respective RBI Office. The designation and addresses of the in-charges are furnished in the Annexure.

(xiv) The staff and officers of the Reserve Bank will treat each member of the public with courtesy and consideration. The staff will be helpful and will attend promptly to the customer's enquiries and complaints.

(i) Offices of the Reserve Bank are located at selected centers. The Bank has, therefore, made arrangement for provision of the facility of exchange of soiled notes, exchange of notes to coins and coins to notes at the branches of scheduled commercial banks. While the facility for exchange of soiled notes is available at all branches of public sector banks and currency chest branches of private sector bank, the facility of exchange of mutilated / cut notes is available only at the currency chest branches of commercial banks. A list of the currency chest branches where the mutilated notes can be exchanged is available at the enquiry counter of the RBI Offices. Such currency chest branches also have instructions to display notice board regarding availability of mutilated notes exchange facility. In case any such branch refuses to provide the exchange facility, aggrieved members of the public can complain to the Chairman and Managing Director/CEO of the commercial bank concerned. In case the grievance is not redressed, the matter may be brought to the notice of the concerned Regional Office of Reserve Bank of India.

(ii) Branches of other banks i.e. Co-operative Banks and Regional Rural Banks are expected to exchange notes and coins at their convenience. They, however, do not have powers to exchange mutilated notes.

Citizen's Charter-Final-8-7-04