Note ban anniversary: RBI says still verifying returned notes

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NEW DELHI: Nearly a year after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation, the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bills returned to banks are still being “processed in all earnest” through a sophisticated currency verification system, the RBI has said.

In reply to an RTI query, the central bank said it had processed about 1,134 crore pieces of Rs 500 notes and 524.90 crore pieces of Rs 1,000 junked notes, having a face value of Rs 5.67 lakh crore and Rs 5.24 lakh crore respectively, as on September 30.

The combined value of the processed notes is Rs 10.91 lakh crore approximately, according to the reply.

“Specified Bank Notes are being processed in all earnest in a double shift on all available machines (sophisticated counting machines),” the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in reply to the RTI query.

The central bank was asked to provide details of demonetised notes counted so far.

Replying to a question on providing the deadline for completing the counting exercise, it said, “The verification of notes withdrawn from the circulation is an ongoing process”.

The RBI said at least 66 Sophisticated Currency Verification and Processing (CVPS) machines were being used for counting of junked Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes deposited with various banks post demonetisation.

The government had on November 8 last year banned the use of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes and allowed the holders of these currency bills to deposit them with banks or use them at certain notified utilities.

The notes deposited or collected are being verified by the central bank at its offices to establish the total number of currency bills returned and to weed out those that are fake.