‘RBI Affirms High Costs of Blind Friendly Currency Production’

The Reserve Bank of India has recently filed an affidavit in the Bombay High Court, revealing about the production of existing currency notes incurs a cost exceeding Rs 4,000 crores, and introducing new currency notes would be even more expensive.

This affidavit was submitted in response to a petition from the National Association for the Blind, asserting that visually impaired individuals find it challenging to identify the new currency notes due to changes in their physical features.

As per RBI, the introduction of a new series of banknotes is a huge undertaking that requires careful consideration. Having multiple series of banknotes pertaining to different sizes and features for the same denomination can cause more confusion than solve the problem. The annual expenditure on security printing for 2022-23 is Rs 4,682.80 crore, including printing notes to replace damaged and old and ones and meet the increased demand for banknotes.

Further, the RBI stated that the introductory cost of a new series of banknotes would be even higher than the current expenditure.

The central bank assured that it has taken all essential measures to address the concerns raised by NAB and is diligently investigating the matter. Work on the next series of banknotes has been in progress since 2017, with inputs from representatives of two national-level associations of visually impaired individuals being taken into account.

RBI aims to incorporate the concerns raised by these associations while designing the forthcoming series of banknotes.

Advocates representing NAB, Uday Warunjikar, and Sumit Kate, illustrate that the affidavit lacks specific details on the RBI’s steps to introduce the new series.

In response to the affidavit, the court requested NAB to submit its response.

Additionally, RBI has been directed to clarify the specific measures it intends to undertake in addressing the issues highlighted in the petition. The case is scheduled for a hearing in October.