<b>Spread of fake Rs 100 notes headache for banks

Spread of fake Rs 100 notes headache for banks Wednesday, May 2, 2001

AHMEDABAD: Hardly has the Madhavpura bank scam issue shown signs of settling down in Gujarat, the bank officials in the city have expressed concern over another burgeoning problem -- forged Rs 100 currency notes.

The numbers may not be alarming as yet, but officials of both nationalised and private banks feel this may be the beginning of yet another crisis. "We found at least five forged notes of Rs 100 among our bundles in the last month," an official of a major nationalised bank told The Times of India. "Normally, you don't get more than one or two, which is making us worry."

Deputy general manager and currency officer of the Reserve Bank of India, Ahmedabad, Kiran Trivedi, however, refutes the claim saying he has not come across any such case. "We know that there are some forged notes of Rs 500 in circulation, but not of Rs 100," he says. "We have not received any complaint.

Superintendent of police at the crime branch Subhash Trivedi also maintains the same stand. "There have been such notes in the market because of the proxy war by Pakistan, but we have not come across any increase," he says. "There is no cause for concern."

Banks, however, are reluctant to approach either the police or the RBI, as they get the notes from long-standing customers, whose honesty they don't question. Approaching the authorities would mean revealing the identity of the customer and elongated legal hassles. "The customers request us not to stretch the issue," a private bank official said. "Besides, our integrity would be questioned, as they would ask us for the sources of the notes. Instead, it is better not to accept these notes and if you do receive them, then burn them."

These officials feel the forged Rs 100 notes are being added to the distribution channel very slowly. If they are accepted, then more would be pumped in to destabilise the economy. As a manager of a co-operative bank puts it, "Our feeling is that the source is the angadia-hawala route. Dealers of forged notes bribe angadia operators, who insert a couple of notes in between originals. Businessmen who accept the money have no way of checking each and every note, as transactions are large."

People have already become weary of the forged Rs 500 notes and no one accepts the old green ones any more. Some banks even maintain a register of these notes, with the name of the person and his account number. If the notes are returned by the State Bank of India or the RBI, then the person has to take them back.

However, the officials add that there is a way of identifying the forged notes if people are a little careful. For one, the number panel is much thicker than an original one. The security strip has been cut into smaller strips which don't show on the front in fake notes when seen against light, besides the paper is also much thicker.

The banks feel, the RBI should take action immediately before the problem goes out of hand.

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