(UTV|COLOMBO) – Sri Lanka’s central bank said it will continue to accept defaced currency notes and exchange them for good ones until further notice given difficulties faced by and requests from the public.
The central bank had earlier announced the service of exchanging wilfully defaced currency notes would be stopped after 31 March 2018.
“Considering the immense requests made and the difficulties faced by the general public in exchanging wilfully defaced currency notes after 31.03.2018, the Central Bank has decided to continue the service of exchange of wilfully mutilated, altered and defaced currency notes until further notice,” a statement said.
The public can submit such currency notes to the central bank Head Office or Regional Offices located at Anuradhapura, Matale, Matara, Trincomalee, Nuwara Eliya, Kilinochchi or send them y registered post.
The central bank also said currency notes that have been mistakenly marked in the form of a small dot or a line are not considered as wilfully mutilated currency notes and can be used for transactions.
The service of accepting damage currency notes by commercial banks due to normal wear and tear or due to natural disasters will continue without any change, the central bank said.
Commercial banks have been instructed to calibrate currency processing machines to detect wilfully mutilated, altered and/or defaced currency notes.
Defaced currency notes from ATMs or other currency handling machines can be exchanged from the nearest bank branch.
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