RBI to procure 50 note verifying machines

The RBI plans to buy 50 Currency Verification and Processing Systems for its regional offices for counting, sorting and authenticating banknotes of all denominations, including the scrapped ones of Rs 500/1,000.

The machines, for which the central bank has floated a global tender, is proposed to be installed at its 18 regional offices throughout the country.

As per the Request for Proposal (RFP), the machines should be computer based and microprocessor controlled and capable of processing, counting, sorting and authenticating banknotes into 'fit for circulation', 'unfit for circulation', 'reject notes', 'suspect/forged notes', and 'emission-wise sorting on design and series', among other categories.

While specifying the system requirements and major technical specifications, the RFP said each system should have a capacity to process at least 30 banknotes per second.

"The CVPS (Currency Verification and Processing System) should be compatible with bank notes of various substrates, viz, cotton, cotton and polymer mix, polymer and hybrid substrates," it said.

The currency notes in India are in different designs and features.

"The CVPS shall be capable of processing all denominations and all series of Indian banknotes (including Specified Banknotes in the denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000)," the tender added.

From time to time, the central bank phases out old series notes from circulation and replaces them with those with additional security features.

"The legal tender status of certain series of banknotes (Specified Bank Notes) has also been withdrawn and these banknotes have been subsequently demonetised.

"The CVPS shall have the capability to sort all the phased out/ demonetised genuine banknotes as unfit, irrespective of their physical condition," the RFP said.

According to the finance ministry, as on November 8, the day demonetisation was announced, there were 1,716.50 crore pieces of Rs 500 and 685.80 crore of Rs 1,000 notes in circulation.

The Reserve Bank is yet to announce the total amount of demonetised notes deposited with the banks.