A reality check on Tuesday by The Hindu on the circulation of counterfeit notes in the city after police busted a racket on Monday found that at least one branch of a nationalised bank has been constantly getting such notes. The State Bank of India’s Valencia branch got five counterfeit notes every month in 2013. Majority of these counterfeit notes have been with face value of Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 500. In only one instance, the bank found two counterfeit notes with face value of Rs. 100.
An official from the bank said as many as five counterfeit notes were found in December 2013. “We have experienced cashiers who single out fake notes.” The official said on each instance, the counterfeit note was impounded and details of the person who produced the currency note was taken. The bank then sends the details to its main office which files complaints with the jurisdictional police.
Representatives of other banks that The Hindu visited on Tuesday, however, said they had not come across counterfeit notes. An official from Corporation Bank’s branch in Jeppu said they have a machine that not only fishes out soiled notes but also the counterfeit notes. An official at Canara Bank in Valencia said the branch never got counterfeit notes in the last one year.
The cashier at a superstore in Valencia said no counterfeit note passed his hand in the last six months. “There have been cases in the past. In all those cases, the cashier had to reimburse the amount as the fake notes were detected at the bank,” he said.
Another cashier at another superstore in Attavar said that he is now extra cautious. “We return to the customer notes we suspect to be counterfeit,” he said.
