The Reserve Bank of India on Sunday said it will shortly issue new Rs. 20 and Rs. 50 banknotes in the Mahatma Gandhi Series-2005, without an inset letter in both the number panels. The new notes will bear the signature of Urjit R. Patel, the incumbent RBI Governor, and the year of printing '2016' printed on the reverse of the banknote.
The central bank clarified that all the banknotes in the denomination of Rs. 50 and Rs. 20 issued in the past will continue to be legal tender.
In November, the government decided to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination bank notes, in a move to curb black money. Subsequently a new Rs 500 banknote was issued and a new Rs 2000 was also issued. However, Rs 1000 notes have not been issued yet.
Following the note ban, Secretary, economic affairs, Shaktikanta Das, had said all the existing notes will be phased out, with new notes with enhanced security features being issued.
