Fake notes in circulation fall, but remain significant: RBI annual report

Banks detected 95.4% of fake notes in 2019-20 (April to March), while the remaining 4.6% were detected by Reserve Bank

Fake notes in the economy have fallen, but are still significant enough, even as high-value note counterfeiting seems to have been checked for now, the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) annual report said.

There was an increase of 144.6 per cent, 28.7 per cent, 151.2 per cent and 37.5 per cent in counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of Rs 10, Rs 50, Rs 200 and Rs 500 respectively. However, counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of Rs 20, Rs 100 and Rs 2,000 declined by 37.7 per cent, 23.7 per cent and 22.1 per cent, respectively, the central bank said.

Banks detected 95.4 per cent of fake notes in 2019-20 (April to March), while the remaining 4.6 per cent were detected by the Reserve Bank.
 

The total expenditure incurred on security printing in the last fiscal was Rs 4,377.84 crore as against Rs 4,810.67 crore in the previous year mainly due to lower indent placed during the year. The central bank’s financial year runs between July to June, though from next year, the financial year will get aligned with the centre and will end in March.

The value and volume of banknotes in circulation increased by 14.7 per cent and 6.6 per cent, respectively, during 2019-20. In value terms, the share of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 banknotes together accounted for 83.4 per cent of the total value of banknotes in circulation at end-March 2020, with a sharp increase in the share of '500 banknotes. In volume terms, '10 and '100 banknotes constituted 43.4 per cent of total banknotes in circulation at end-March 2020. 

Among high value, Rs 2,000 notes fell in share, from 32,910 in 2019 to 27,398 in 2020. This indicates the central bank may not have printed additional Rs 2,000 notes in 2020, or may have taken out of circulation many of the existing ones.