ISLAMABAD: The government has extended the deadline to encash Rs7,500, Rs15,000, Rs25,000, and Rs40,000 prize bonds, the State Bank of Pakistan has announced.
You can now encash them till March 31, 2022.
The procedure for encashment, conversion, and redemption of the prize bonds will remain the same. The bonds can be replaced with savings certificates and premium prize bonds or be encashed at face value.
The bonds can be converted to premium prize bonds at 16 field offices of the SBP Banking Services Corporation and branches of six authorized commercial banks i.e National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank Limited, United Bank Limited, MCB Bank Limited, Allied Bank Limited, and Bank Alfalah Limited.
Earlier, overseas Pakistanis said they wanted time to encash their prize bonds as it was not possible for them to travel to Pakistan due to travel restrictions in view of Covid.
The government had discontinued these bonds in June 2019 but had allowed people to encash them till December 31, 2021.
The decision to phase out the prize bonds was taken in view of the recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The FATF claimed that the bonds did not specify ownership and there was no effective system to control prize bond trade.
The previous government had launched premium prize bonds in April 2017. These prize bonds are issued only against computerized national identity cards and bank accounts of bondholders. Initially, the deadline for encashment or redemption was March 2020.
