Chandigarh, August 28
Seizure of counterfeit notes of Rs 1,000 denomination by the Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS) in Mumbai has set the alarm bells ringing for most banks in the country. In a fresh appeal to all public sector, private and foreign banks, the RBI has warned of large-scale counterfeit currency notes of Rs 1,000 denomination (of 2 AQ and 8 AC series) being in circulation.

Though no official details of the number of these fake notes in circulation are available, intelligence sources claim that over two lakh pieces of these notes have already been pushed in the country. Though the RBI sources have refused to comment on the number of pieces in circulation, it has warned the in-charges of fake note vigilance cells of all banks about the threat. Banks have been asked to ensure that the cash handling staff at all bank branches are alerted about these series of notes and ensure the usage of note sorting machines for Rs 1,000 notes.

It is learnt that the Mumbai ATS had recently seized 345 fake currency notes in the above mentioned series. These were seized from four persons belonging to West Bengal and Jharkhand. These notes also bore the signatures of Dr Y V Reddy, former Governor of the RBI.

Interestingly, all these notes (pertaining to the 2005-06 series) had all new and strengthened security features like optically variable ink, colour, shift security threat etc. Sources said the counterfeiting has been by printing of the notes and first visual impact is similar to the genuine notes. It was only when the notes were got checked by note sorting machines (NSMs) that they were treated as suspect.

Meanwhile, the annual report of the RBI released yesterday also mentions that the detection of counterfeit banknotes has showed a rising trend. As many as 3,98,111 counterfeit banknotes were detected at the Reserve Bank’s offices and bank branches during 2008-09 as compared to 1,95,811 in the previous year. Out of this, 3,42,281 pieces were detected at bank branches, which indicate the increased use of NSMs at their end.

The RBI has taken several steps to check the menace of counterfeit bank notes. The installation of NSMs by all banks at their currency chest branches (to facilitate examination and detection of counterfeit notes at the currency chest level itself), and the setting up of the Forged Note Vigilance Cells (FNVCs) at the banks (to ensure stringent levels of anti-counterfeit management in the banking system) helped significantly in the increased detection of counterfeit bank notes, says the annual report.