‘What! How can you say this note is fake?’ shouted an angry customer at a bank. ‘We have done nothing wrong, don’t you guys get it. Every penny is so important for us and you think we deal in fake currency?’, the customer was trying to catch a breath.

‘We are extremely sorry madam, but we will have to impound this Rs. 2,000 note. Do you remember who gave you this note?’ replied the bank executive.

‘How can you expect me to know that. I deal with so many people everyday, right from my household expenses to office expenses. I had some savings left, so wanted to deposit with the bank. But now it feels like I have done something wrong.’ cried the customer while others looked at her with compassion.

Upon hearing this, calmly bank executive took the note and stamped it – ‘counterfeit note’. Now it cannot be used as a legal tender.

‘You can’t catch the big guys who loot thousands of crores of rupees. Just because we are small, you will punish us.’ customer could not take it anymore and stormed out of the bank.

Wouldn’t we also behave in a similar emotion if such an event took place in our life? A question we must ponder upon. Hence, this trivia is dedicated to detect the authenticity of those new Rs. 500 and Rs. 2,000 notes in your wallet.

The notes are freshly printed during the phase of demonetisation. Hence, it doesn’t cross our brains to look at it with a different intent. But the truth is far from what we know.

The government in July 2017 had informed the parliament that fake currency having a face-value of over Rs 11.23 crore was detected in 29 states post demonetisation. Also, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest annual report said that during 2016-17, 762,072 pieces of counterfeit notes were detected in the banking system, of which 95.7 percent were found by commercial banks. This was 20.4 percent higher than what was detected in the previous year.

Do you still think, there is no chance of a fake note in your wallet?

Let’s first look at RBI Guidelines regarding fake currency.

Bank Counter

Usually, while we deposit our cash with bank they check for authenticity of those notes. If at that point, it is established that a particular note or series of notes are fake, then the amount will not be credited to the customer’s account. Also, the note will not be returned. Infact, the bank will be penalised, if it returns the very note back to their customer. RBI takes this very seriously, otherwise it will be a complete failure on their part to curb fake currency from the system. This results in a total loss for the customer.

After impounding, bank has to issue an acknowledgement of the transaction which has to be signed by the cashier and the customer who submitted that very note. Even if the customer refuses to sign, the receipt must be issued.

The note will then be stamped as ‘counterfeit note’ and will be recorded in bank registers. These fake notes are then sent to police for further investigation. Also, please note that if the customer holds more than 5 fake notes, then the bank has to file a FIR for investigation.

ATMs

RBI has instructed banks to maintain adequate safeguards and checks before loading notes into ATM machine. Failure to do so, will be considered an attempt to circulate fake notes by the banks.

Yet, if you are out of luck and get a fake note from the ATM machine then unfortunately can’t be much done. Surprisingly, no existing guidelines from RBI are in place for the customer to claim new notes in return to the fake notes received from ATM. However, you can try a few things. Hold that particular fake note in the face of CCTV camera and see to it that serial number of the note gets properly captured, register the complaint with the station guard. Simultaneously, raise a complaint with bank, RBI and police. If during the investigation, it is established about the nature of note being fake then you will stand a fair chance to receive compensation.

It’s important to be vigilant all the time, as the exchange of fake notes can hurt our time and wallet both simultaneously. A way to avoid all this hassle is to educate yourself of the security features of the notes.

Rs. 2,000 notes

• RBI has introduced newly designed bank notes as a part of it’s Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.
• It has motif of Mangalyaan on the reverse.
• Base colour of the note is Magenta.
• Size of the new note is 66 mm x 166 mm

For complete safety features of the note, please click here. (link embedded)

Rs. 500 notes

• RBI has introduced newly designed bank notes as a part of it’s Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.
• These notes are different in colour, size, theme, location of security features and design elements from it’s predecessor.
• It has an image of Red Fort on the reverse.
• Base colour is stone grey.
• Size of the new note is 66 mm x 150 mm

For complete safety features of the note, please click here. (link embedded)

Rs. 200 notes

• RBI has introduced newly designed bank notes as a part of it’s Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.
• Motif of Sanchi Stupa on the reverse.
• Size of the new note is 66 mm x 146 mm

For complete safety features of the note, please click here. (link embedded)

Rs. 50 notes

• RBI has introduced newly designed bank notes as a part of it’s Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.
• Motif of Hampi with Chariot on the reverse.
• Size of the new note is 66 mm x 135 mm

For complete safety features of the note, please click here. (link embedded)

Disclaimer :

Please note, that we don’t intend to blame the government or any other authorities. The intention of the article for our reader is to be safe and secure.

– Jinay Savla