M A I N   N E W S

Hold back old-design Rs 500 notes: RBI
From Chander Parkash
Tribune News Service

BATHINDA, March 1 — The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) authorities have instructed all banks in the country not to reissue old-design notes of Rs 500 denomination with the Ashoka Pillar water mark and portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi on the right side.

According to circular issued by the RBI authorities to all bank managements (ACT/24/99-2000. 319 dated February 9, 2000), old-design notes, irrespective of their condition, be treated as non-issuable notes and these should be remitted to the RBI issue office on priority basis by the end of March 2000.

The authorities have reportedly taken this step to ensure that cash balances held by the branches and currency chests of the banks do not contain forged notes. The RBI authorities have asked the banks to take action immediately in this regard.

Official sources said the RBI authorities had also sent teams to various branches of the banks having currency chests to physically verify the notes lying there to weed out the forged notes. The authorities had also asked the bank managements that all cash balances of reissuable notes of Rs 500 denomination held by branches, including the currency chests, should be subjected to re-examination as one time measure to weed out the forged notes.

The sources said on the other hand, thousands of currency notes of Rs 500 denomination (old and new design) had been pouring in the banks in this region for the past many days as the fear of fake currency in the minds of public was increasing day by day.

A senior official of a bank pleading anonymity said every day notes of Rs 500 denomination had been pouring in the banks while no customer was willing to take payment in the notes of Rs 500 denomination.

Bank employees have got panicky over the instruction of the RBI authorities that all cash balances, including the currency chests, would be examined to weed out the forged notes. They feared that they would have to face the music if any forged note was found in their balance or the currency chest.

A number of bank employees on the condition of anonymity told TNS that they were working under pressure as they could not refuse the notes or Rs 500 denomination as per the instructions of the RBI. On the other hand they were still not fully equipped to detect each and every fake note, they pointed out.

Some of the banks have decided to organise camps to provide skills to their employees, particularly those handling cash counters and indulge in cash transactions to detect the fake currency notes.