Pakistanis can get fresh currency notes before Eid-ul-Fitr

ISLAMABAD - The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has announced it will issue fresh currency notes to public from June 1 to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr.

The Bank in collaboration with Pakistan Banks Association (PBA) has set up SMS short code 8877 for issuing fresh currency notes, which will be issued during June 1 to 14.

According to a notification issued on Tuesday, a person intending to get new currency notes would send a message to 8877 along with his CNIC number and branch code of selected bank. The system will respond with sending transaction number and branch address.

Charges of sending an SMS to 8877 are Rs. 15 (plus tax).

Under the SMS service, each CNIC number and mobile phone number can only be used once. No transaction code will be issued to senders if they send same CNIC/smart card number from different mobile numbers or addresses.

A help desk has also been established at (021)- 111-008-877 to entertain queries/complaints of general public.

The subscriber would have to present his original CNIC at the time of receiving fresh currency notes. Each subscriber can exchange and get three packets of Rs10, and each package of Rs50 and Rs100.

This facility will be available at 1,535 commercial bank branches and SBP offices located in 132 cities.