No new Rs 2,000 notes printed from 2019-2022, says RTI reply

An RTI reply has disclosed that no new Rs 2,000 denomination currency notes were printed during 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22.

The RTI application filed by IANS disclosed that the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Ltd printed 3,542.991 million pieces of Rs 2,000 notes in the financial year 2016-17, which drastically came down to 111.507 million notes in 2017-18 and was further reduced to 46.690 million notes in 2018-19.

The RTI reply received from the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Ltd revealed said that '0' number of Rs 2,000 denomination currency note was printed in 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22. The Reserve Bank of India had introduced the Rs 2,000 note after the government announced the demonetisation move that banned old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on November 8, 2016.

A recent reply in the Parliament (on August 1) said that the number of fake currency notes of Rs 2,000 denomination seized in the country as per NCRB data increased substantially between 2016 and 2020, from 2,272 to 2,44,834 pieces.

As per the data, the total number of fake Rs 2,000 notes seized in the country in 2016 was 2,272, which increased to 74,898 in 2017 before reducing to 54,776 in 2018. The figures in 2019 stood at 90,566 pieces, before registering a remarkable spike in 2020 to 2,44,834 pieces.

The RBI had issued banknotes in all denominations in the Mahatma Gandhi Series - 2005 with a new exploding numbering pattern in 2015. With these visible security features, the general public can easily distinguish a counterfeit note from a genuine one. 

More than 90 per cent of the counterfeit notes detected in the banking system were of low quality and none of the major security features were compromised. Details of security features of these notes are displayed on the RBI website for the general public, said the reply in the Parliament.

It also said that the RBI issues various instructions to banks on measures to safeguard against forged currency notes. The central bank regularly conducts training programmes on detection of counterfeit notes for employees/officials of banks and other organisations handling large amount of cash.