Is the Rs 500 note in your pocket fake?

If you engage in more cash transactions, be cautious. The circulation of counterfeit currency notes is rapidly increasing in the country. The highest number of counterfeit notes belongs to the 500 rupee denomination. This disclosure has been made in the recent report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

According to the RBI’s report, by the end of March in the financial year 2022-23, there was a total circulation of Rs 33.48 lakh crore in the country. Out of this, 25.81 lakh crore rupees consisted of 500 rupee notes. Thus, more than 77 percent of the cash in the Indian market is in the form of 500 rupee notes. In fact, the RBI had already planned to withdraw the 2,000 rupee notes, which is why the central bank is consistently increasing the number of 500 rupee notes. Due to this, the number of 500 rupee notes increased by 13 percent in the financial year 2023 compared to 2022.
According to the report, a total of 2.25 lakh counterfeit notes were seized in the financial year 2023. Out of these, 4.6 percent were seized by the RBI, while 95.4 percent were seized during transactions in banks. The worrying aspect is that the number of counterfeit 500 rupee notes seized increased by more than 14 percent compared to the previous year. However, the relieving fact is that during this period, there was a decrease of 11.6 percent in the number of counterfeit 10, 100, and 2000 rupee notes.

The rise of fake Rs 500 notes
According to the figures, in the financial year 2021, a total of 39,453 counterfeit 500 rupee notes were seized in the banking system. In the following year, the number of counterfeit 500 rupee notes reached 79,669. Not only that, in the financial year 2023, the number of counterfeit 500 rupee notes increased further to 91,110. Therefore, the number of counterfeit notes in the market is continuously rising. In such a scenario, if you engage in more cash transactions, exercise caution.”