Steep increase in counterfeit notes

Volume up 87%, value jumps 137% in FY08.

The RBI annual report has confirmed all the fears of the security agencies on fake currency notes in the country.

The report shows that the number of counterfeit notes seized during the year rose 87 per cent to 195,811 in FY08 compared to 104,743 in the previous year.

In terms of value, the increase was 137 per cent to Rs 5.50 crore compared with Rs 2.32 crore in the previous year. While the data is only an indicative one, the scale of circulation of fake currency notes is much higher. In recent months, security agencies have expressed concern over the role of Pakistan-based agents in circulating such notes. To the government’s surprise, a large number of such notes were found in a public sector bank branch in Uttar Pradesh recently.

Data showed that the problem was mainly with higher denomination notes of Rs 100, Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

While a number of steps are being taken to check the menace, RBI said that higher detection was on account of the installation of note sorting machines by all banks at their currency chest branches and forged chest vigilance cells (FCVCs).

As part of its drive to tackle the problem, the apex bank has introduced non-sequential numbering for higher denomination notes (Rs 500 and Rs 1,000). For example, in a packet of 100 pieces, some of the currency in the sequence will be missing.