The counterfeit currency menace is growing in India. In 2011, the rupee appeared to have emerged as the counterfeiter's currency of choice internationally, displacing the greenback. By all accounts, Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN) continue to be pumped in — much of it from abroad. A recent report compiled by the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Union Finance Ministry estimated a 400 per cent increase over recent years in counterfeit transactions in India's financial channels. During 2010-11, the agency detected “4,23,539 incidents of FICN with a face value of over Rs 35 crore.” The 2011-12 figures are higher. According to a 2011 report of the U.S. State Department, India faces an increasing inflow of ‘high-quality' counterfeit currency, produced primarily in Pakistan, and smuggled in through multiple international routes including Nepal and Bangladesh. Terrorist and underworld networks could be using the fakes to finance their activities in India. India has repeatedly blamed Pakistan as one of the major originating points. Porous borders facilitate the flow. The magnitude of the problem has not even been quantified. Economic crimes involving black money, hawala foreign exchange remittances and money laundering are but concomitants.
Gone are the days when a fake note could be detected by touch and feel: today, it has become almost impossible to make the distinction as counterfeiters employing sophisticated methods and materials have succeeded in replicating almost all the security features. In the face of such an organised and high-tech threat, in addition to stricter policing and intelligence gathering, India needs to deploy the right technological options on a massive scale to catch and root out the counterfeiters. The kind of machines that Indian banks need at the cash counters are those that can not only verify images but also check the chemical and physical properties of paper, ink, resins and other materials used. India should also look at options in pattern recognition technology and equip banking and other financial channels with them on a wide scale in order that every single note that passes through them are checked. The government should seek global expertise to incorporate more security features in currency notes. It also needs to indigenise the production of currency note paper and end the current dependence on imports from producers who supply it to multiple customers. India should raise the issue effectively at the inter-governmental meeting of the Financial Action Task Force to be held in June. This is a challenge worth investing in.
Keywords: counterfeit currency, fake currency racket, Finance Ministry
The people in power should be proactive in dealing with menace like this which is a very serious one. Take appropriate measures after taking the experts advice. The lukeworm response to such issues will only strengthen the culprits to carry on with their tasks easily.
We are self enough to make ICBM Agni-V without any technology transfer,
not just that recent successful launch of India's heaviest satellite in
orbit. If we can do such complex things indigenously, then why we cannot
do the same thing for our currency.I just wish, our bureaucrats are not
involved in this, because the problem is going since long and not much
substantial steps have been taken so far.
The fake notes do enormous damage to the Nation's economy, but it also hurts individual Indian citizens. One gets fake notes even from Banks, particularly ATMs. If one gets saddled with a fake note, he or she has no remedy. If found in possession of a fake note, one is in for big trouble with the "authorities". The only way out is to destroy the note as quickly as possible. WHY CAN'T THE GOVERNMENT PROTECT ITS CITIZENS?
The counterfeit currency is not a litter problem, growing dangerous,
has created huge disturbance of Indian economy. Indian government
should take a appropriate action against delar mafia across India as
we can, but I do not understand why Indian Government not take a right
decision on right time.
We must improve our indigenous technology with high-tech plastic paper
money.
We have no time to think about planning for counterfeit currency, Now
the time have come to take action against this.
The growing menace of couterfeit currency is a veritable threat to the economy and liberty of the nation.It can be an intended inulgence the aliens resort to in ruining our country. The frustrated youth mostly comprise the educated unemployed.As the adage goes,an idle mind is the devil's workshop.The rampant social inequity that bedvils the country is a tool in the hands of the counterfeit currency mafia to attract the disgruntled youth to this 'prosperous business'.Self-reliance in the production of currency is imperative to avert the evil of fake notes,for dependence on other coutries for the currency-making template will lead to fabrication.Economic inequity can also spur the youngsters to steer to the path of making easy money.One of the implications of fake notes is that it makes its way to the hands of the innocent through ATMs to land them in problems
Like all other kinds of hi-tech crime, counterfeiting and preventing it is also all
about staying one step ahead of your enemy. Most countries invest enormous
effort in developing newer, harder to forge bills and even replace bills in
circulation every few years as much as possible. But there is no substitute for
monitoring and vigilance, especially as there is still counterfeiting at a lower-tech
level as I discovered a few weeks ago.
The ATM spat out bank notes of which at least one was clearly a counterfeit, the
imprint shifted laterally by several inches so that the note appeared to be cut off at
the edge and would not have been accepted by anyone. Luckily, I was able to
exchange it immediately by showing the ATM receipt as the bank was open at that
time.
The root cause of all this is the hoarding of currency under one's mattress as most politicians
are fond of doing. Regular changing the design of currency and demonising old currency will
go a long way in stopping this. Further compulsory using of plastic money/cheques for
payments above Rupees 1000/- will discourage hoarding of notes. People like Lallu YADAV
can not then pay lakes of rupees to hotels in cash when they celebrate their umpteen
daughters weddings.
These easy solutions are not implemented due to the politicians love for black money. The
Pakistanis are aware of this and hence our economy is suffering.
Why we live on fire fighting mode always? first terrorists enter through porous borders. We fight with them and (many of us) get killed. fake currency gets thorugh porous borders and we fight against it. Why we as a nation not give message that those who work against our interest will have to pay heavier price and stand by it .... come what may)! May be those elements are internal (naxals) or foreign. the price need not be in the form of war or human lives but disruption of their normal way? One possible explanation is that we ARE weak and/or our INDIAN STATE is weak. Both does not give good feeling.
Will the Govt.be able to inform the nation how much fake notes were
seized from various parties and what steps were taken against those
who brazenly "facilitate"the arrival and distribution of these notes in huge volume .Pakisthan has been at it for several years and their Indian Agents receive these through Sea/Air Ports,Borders
with Nepal and Bangla Desh.
Those who can earn money(The Rich), earn it and those who cant , are printing it and pumping them. There should not be a need for seeking global expertise for countering this problem .Strengthening the system would be enough.The source of these counterfeit currencies is not a mystery.Everyone knows it . The channels are also known . Why not kill the evil in the roots and also provide all institutions with better equipment to detect them .
Also when the thieves have got good techniques for printing counterfeit notes , why cant the government come up with better technology and better design.
This is not a country of illiterates , we have a million engineers who can design a better hundred rupee note which can be differentiated from another not only by the number printed on it , but by other characteristics .
In the age of digital money,digital signatures and encryption , i dont think the government should be facing any problems with the counterfeit notes .
No amount of policing and sophisticated machinery would prevent the menace of countefeit currency as long as the production is indigenised.India imports its currency template from Delarue, and it was reported long time back that the template has been compromised. But still we continue to import it, for reasons unknown.I wonder what is the need to do that, when we can launch our own satillites, we can definitely print our notes.Imagine a company selling the same template to us and the ISI! what could be more terrible than this.
Why don't we have a numbering system on notes as used by the banks for credit/debit cards.
The counterfeit currency menace is growing by leaps and bound in India
due to the poor vigilance and prompt and coordinated against the fake
currency printers and mafia operating in this field. In 2011, the
rupee appeared to have emerged as the counterfeiter's currency of
choice internationally.The fact was recently revealed in the report
compiled by the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Union Finance
Ministry which estimated around 400 per cent increase in counterfeit
transactions in India's financial market.
The cross border fake currency dealers are the real threat as they
given safe sanctuary there and the government feels what harms it
does. But they should know that the same fake currency dealers and
printers are printing fake currency for the country which gives them
save heaven.
The intelligence bureau and the law enforcement agencies should come
forward with measures which not only detects the fake currencies but
also strong and fool proof measures to teach them a lesson.
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