RBI Annual Report | India’s counterfeit notes rise more than 10% in FY22

Counterfeit notes of Indian denominations increased 10.7 percent in the financial year that ended March, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its annual report released on May 27.

The central bank detected 101.93 percent rise in fake notes of Rs 500 denomination, while fake notes of Rs 2,000 increased more than 54 percent.

In November 2016, the government had announced demonetisation of all Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes with an aim to curtail black money and decrease the use of counterfeit currency. It had announced the issuance of new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 banknotes.

The latest report has sparked fresh criticism of demonetisation by opposition parties.

The RBI report showed that there was an increase of 16.45 and 16.48 percent in counterfeit notes of Rs 10 and Rs 20 respectively in FY22. Fake Rs 200 notes rose 11.7 percent.

Counterfeit notes detected in denominations of Rs 50 and Rs 100 declined 28.65 and 16.71 percent respectively, the report showed.

Of those, 6.9 percent were detected at the RBI while the rest 93.1 percent at other banks.