Railways detect ₹1.11 crore in fake currency notes in 10 years

The Railways have detected fake currency notes with a face value of ₹1.11 crore at its cash counters in the last 10 years, according to the report of a Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The Railways have recovered ₹66.2 lakh from the staff members responsible for taking the fake currency notes and are yet to get back the remaining ₹45.1 lakh in counterfeit currency notes.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture raised “concerns” about the fake currency notes detected at the railway cash counters and asked the Railways to procure fake currency detecting machines. “Further, training should be provided to the staff at the railway counters by the RBI, the SBI and the nationalised or private banks to identify fake notes,” the committee said in its report, ‘Outstanding Dues for Indian Railways,’ tabled in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

As per the norms, the staff responsible for receiving fake currency notes at railway station cash counters should “make good the deficiency promptly.” The Railways informed the committee that it ordered early recovery of the remaining fake currency notes.

Iron ore scam

Railways filed suits worth ₹3,168 crore against 47 defaulting freight companies which benefited from its dual freight policy of 2008. The CBI filed cases against these firms that moved iron ore for exports by paying less rates meant for domestic traffic, causing a loss.