Withdrawn Rs 7,500, 15,000, 25,000 and 40,000 Prize Bonds: What to Do Now

Between 2019 and 2021 the government withdrew four values of bearer prize bond: Rs 40,000, Rs 25,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 7,500. Holders were given several extensions to cash them in or swap them. The last one ended on 31 December 2024.

If you have just found one of these bonds in a cupboard or in a parent's papers, here is where things stand and what you can still do.

Which bonds were withdrawn, and when

Bond	Withdrawn by	Last draw in the National Savings search
Rs 40,000 bearer	Finance Division notification of 24 June 2019	3 June 2019
Rs 25,000 bearer	Finance Division notifications of 9 December 2020; SBP CMD Circular No. 8 of 10 December 2020	2 November 2020
Rs 15,000 bearer	Finance Division notifications of 28 April 2021; SBP CMD Circular No. 1 of 30 April 2021	1 April 2021
Rs 7,500 bearer	Same notifications and circular as Rs 15,000	1 February 2021

The withdrawal dates come from the circulars listed on SBP BSC's National Prize Bonds notices page and from reports at the time (ProPakistani, 10 December 2020; ProPakistani, 29 April 2021). National Savings has no result pages for these withdrawn values, but its draw search still offers their draws, and the last draw dates above are the latest it lists for each value. SBP's FAQ on the withdrawn bonds confirms there will be no further draws for them.

A Finance Ministry reply to the National Assembly, reported in August 2025, said these values were withdrawn as part of Pakistan's commitments under the Financial Action Task Force regime (ProPakistani, 7 August 2025). Large bearer bonds can change hands like cash with no record of who owns them, which is the concern.

The deadlines

Each withdrawal came with a last date, and each last date was extended more than once. The first deadline for the Rs 40,000 bond was 31 March 2020. By 2022 all four values shared one deadline, which then moved to 30 June 2022, 30 June 2023 and 30 June 2024. Three times, in 2022, 2023 and 2024, a deadline passed and a new one was announced a few months later. That history is not a promise: nothing has been announced since 31 December 2024.

The final extension covered all four values together. SBP's CMD Circular No. 1 of 2024, dated 2 October 2024, told banks that the Finance Division had extended the last date from 30 June 2024 to 31 December 2024, by notifications dated 30 September 2024. Banks were to accept requests for encashment, conversion and redemption from the public until that date.

SBP's FAQ on the withdrawn bonds, published in October 2024, set out the three options that were open until that date:

• conversion into registered Premium Prize Bonds;
• replacement with Special Savings Certificates or Defence Savings Certificates; or
• encashment at full face value into a bank account.

Cash was never allowed, and no tax or deduction was taken from the face value. The same FAQ warned that anyone buying withdrawn bonds for cash at a discount was acting outside the rules: under Rule 3 of the Prize Bonds Rules 1999, only SBP BSC offices, authorised bank branches and National Savings Centres may do business in bearer prize bonds.

Banks then had to surrender the bonds they had collected to SBP BSC offices by 31 January 2025. That date was for banks, not for the public.

Where things stand now

No new window had been announced by 14 October 2026. SBP's list of Currency Management Department circulars for 2025 and 2026 holds only two, neither about withdrawn bonds: one on settling savings certificate sales and one on selling Premium Prize Bonds through banks. We also found no Finance Division notification reopening encashment.

The only official word since then came in August 2025. Answering a question in the National Assembly, the Minister of State for Finance said 99.5 percent of the discontinued bonds had been redeemed, and that if a significant number of verifiable applications were received, the government may consider relief, including for overseas Pakistanis and others who missed the deadline for special reasons (ProPakistani, 7 August 2025; Profit, August 2025). That was a statement of possibility, not a scheme. There was no form, no office and no date attached to it.

What you can still do

1. Keep the bonds safe. A withdrawn bearer bond is still a piece of paper with a number on it. If relief is ever announced, you will need the original.

2. Do not sell them at a discount. Anyone offering to buy withdrawn bonds for less than face value, or to "get them encashed" for a fee, is asking you to trust them with something that has no official route today, and SBP has said such dealing is outside the rules. Walk away.

3. Check whether the bond ever won, and do it now. A prize is a separate matter from encashing the bond. SBP's FAQ on the withdrawn bonds says a prize on a withdrawn bond "may be claimed by the holder of the prize bond at any time within a period of six years from the date of relevant draw." Working from the last draw dates in the table above:

• Rs 40,000 bearer: the last draw was 3 June 2019, so that six year window closed around 3 June 2025.
• Rs 25,000 bearer: the last draw was 2 November 2020, so the window for that draw closes around 2 November 2026, a few weeks from now.
• Rs 7,500 bearer: the last draw was 1 February 2021, so around 1 February 2027.
• Rs 15,000 bearer: the last draw was 1 April 2021, so around 1 April 2027.

Earlier draws close earlier. Check your numbers in the official draw search, which still offers the withdrawn values even though there are no result pages for them, and if one has won, go to an SBP BSC office with the bond and your CNIC straight away. We could not confirm how SBP BSC offices are handling these claims today, so ask them before you assume anything. Our claim time limit guide explains how the six years are counted.

4. If you missed the deadline for a real reason, put it in writing. The minister mentioned overseas Pakistanis and special circumstances. There is no formal application process, but a short letter to your nearest SBP BSC office, with copies of the bonds and the reason you missed the deadline, creates a record. Keep a copy and the date you sent it.

5. Watch for an official announcement. Any new window would come through an SBP circular or a Finance Division notification, and the news sites report these quickly. Ignore messages on WhatsApp or social media that do not link to one.

Do not confuse them with the Premium bonds

The Premium Prize Bonds of Rs 25,000 and Rs 40,000 are not withdrawn. They are registered bonds, a different product, and they are still drawn four times a year. The Premium Rs 40,000 draw of 10 September 2026 was held in Sialkot. Our premium and bearer comparison explains the difference.

The bearer bonds still in use are Rs 100, 200, 750 and 1,500. Those can be checked, claimed and encashed as normal.

If the bonds belonged to someone who has died

Old high value bearer bonds often turn up when a family goes through a parent's papers. Check every bond, of every value, against the last six years of draws first. For current values, our checker takes a whole list of numbers at once; for withdrawn values, use the official draw search. Our guide to checking many bonds covers packets and series. Any valid bonds and any prizes may also need to appear in the heirs' tax returns. If that is new to your family, Axiom Square can help with the filing.

Axiom Bonds is not affiliated with the State Bank of Pakistan, National Savings or the Finance Division. Confirm anything about withdrawn bonds with an SBP BSC office before you act.