The directorate of currency, government of India, has asked companies world-wide to come up with security features that can be included in the new series of bank notes. This is in the wake of massive counterfeiting of Indian currency by Pakistan.
The currency notes are printed by Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India Limited (SPMCIL) and Bhartiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL). “The government has now requested firms across the world to offer security features and the associated technology for incorporation in the future series of Indian currency notes,” said a source.
The applicants will be required to make a presentation before a committee constituted for evaluating the offers. “The eligibility criteria for the applicants is that their firm should be a registered company besides complete technical details including anti-counterfeiting strength and ease of recognition of the original note should be given. The applicants would also be asked to furnish any certificates obtained from any internationally accredited laboratory,” the source added.
The RBI advisory on suspected fake notes series had recently alerted several fake notes had been circulating in the market in several series of `1,000 and `500 denomination notes.
Experts in currency believe that the counterfeit notes are now designed using state-of-the-art technology and are so exclusive that they could only be copied at a well-equipped full-fledged currency printing set-up. It includes use of optical variable ink (OVI) and colour shift security thread (CSST) apart from premier quality paper and printing that is far superior to the fake notes circulated earlier.
Security agencies blame Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for “perfecting the art of fake currency making”. Earlier, fake Indian currency note (FICN) rackets operated from a room with only a laptop. But notes seized in the past couple of years have everything in place — right from the watermark and paper quality to other sophisticated features.
“The counterfeit notes are printed in the government press in Karachi under the supervision of the ISI who then transport it to Bangladesh via Thailand or Nepal. Several Indians involved in counterfeit trade then enter Bangladesh through the jungles of West Bengal and bring in the notes here,” said the source.
The fake notes are then traded at a price in the market. “Machines and scanners are now installed at several banks and larger institutions to recognise fake currency notes but it is extremely difficult to recognise them with a naked eye,” the source added.