What if you are depositing money in your bank, and the bank notices a fake note in your deposit? If you have ever been in such a situation, you must have felt annoyed, but there is little else that you can do.
According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, banks will impound such notes and the amount of money does not get credited to your account.
So, you end up losing that much and the bank is within its right to take all your details to submit it further to the police.
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) annual report 2022-23 shows that of the total fake currency notes, 95.4 per cent were detected at different banks and 4.6 per cent at the RBI.
Notably, there was a decline in the volume of fake notes of Rs 10, Rs 100, and Rs 2,000 denomination in FY23, but counterfeiting increased in Rs 500 (new design) and Rs 20 denomination currency notes by 14.4 per cent and 8.4 per cent, respectively in one year.
Moreover, there is a punishment of imprisonment or fine or both for holding or circulating fake notes knowingly or being involved as part of any process of counterfeiting.
In case you received currency notes and realise later that multiple notes are fake, it is good to inform the bank or the police about it because it is a punishable offense under section 489 A to 489 D of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to hold or circulate such notes.
Says Advocate Nitya Bansal, “If somebody possesses fake currency note and has knowledge that this could be fake, then there is punishment of imprisonment for up to seven years or fine or both under Section 489 C.”
HOW TO CHECK WHETHER A NOTE IS FAKE?
You cannot avoid the risk of counterfeit notes, however, you can be vigilant while dealing in cash, so that you can differentiate between a genuine and a fake note.
Here’s how you should check the specifications on the note as specified by the RBI.
These include: (Mahatma Gandhi’s Portrait and electrotype watermarks, security thread, micro letters ‘भारत’ and ‘India’, intaglio or raised printing of Mahatma Gandhi portrait, Ashoka Pillar emblem, circle with ₹500 in the right, five angular bleed lines on left and right side in raised print etc. on the front side of the note, and motif of Red Fort, Swachh Bharat logo with slogan, year of printing of the note, 15 language panel etc. on the back side).
In case you are still not satisfied with the genuineness of the note, you may approach the bank to confirm it. If it turns out to be a fake note, the bank will impound it. You can also go to the nearest police station and inform them about it.
What Should You Do If You Receive Fake Currency Notes?
From ATM:
If you receive a fake note from the ATM, show it then and there to the CCTV camera in the ATM clearly and inform the security guard there about it to make a record of it. Do not forget to collect the receipt of your transaction.
Inform the bank about the fake note received from the ATM, and the bank will verify the details and update you about a refund.
From Other Transactions:
If you have received a fake note in some other transaction and notice it sometime later, and do not remember from where you have received it, you do not have much to do.
In case you received currency notes and realise later that multiple notes are fake, it is good to inform the bank or the police about it because it is a punishable offense under Section 489 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to try to circulate the notes knowing them to be fake.
So, if one tries to palm off the fake notes, then they are actually putting themselves in danger of imprisonment.
