The Reserve Bank of India has decided to hire 12 new systems to help it isolate fake currency from the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that were deposited, PTI reported on Sunday. Seven months since the deadline to hand in the banned notes expired, the central bank is still counting the bills it has accumulated since November 9, 2016.
The Currency Verification and Processing Systems will be leased for six months, though it can be extended for six more if needed. They will process all the notes received at RBI’s regional offices.
In May, the RBI had floated a global tender to lease 18 of these machines, but this was later cancelled and a new tender was floated for 12 such systems.
On July 12, RBI Governor Urjit Patel had told a Parliamentary panel that they were still counting the currency deposited after the notes were scrapped in November 2016. He had said there was no final figure on how much currency had been deposited with the bank.
On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes will no longer be legal tender. He had said that the move was aimed at fighting corruption, black money and counterfeiting. The scrapping of these notes had led to a severe cash crunch in the country, as the demonetised bills had accounted for nearly 86% of the currency in circulation then.
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