Reserve Bank of India plans to introduce plastic notes on a trial basis, according to K.C. Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor.

Replying to a question on plastic notes, on the sidelines of a ‘Town Hall Meet’ organised by the Banking Ombudsman of Karnataka in Mangalore on Tuesday, he said plastic notes of Rs 10 denomination will be introduced on a trial basis, in select cities.

This is part of a move aimed at increasing the life of notes and combating counterfeit currency.

Earlier, replying to a query by a bank customer on the soiled and torn notes, Chakarbarty said the average life of a currency note is less than nine months.

When another participant pointed out that even bank officials write on the currency notes though they are not supposed to, Chakrabarty said the bank employees too are part of the society “we live in”. Society should take note of this, and stay away from writing on currency notes, he said. One of the participants said that customers are put to discomfort when the bank officials find fake notes while paying at the counters, though the amount was withdrawn from ATMs. In such a situation, there should be a mechanism for customers to check the genuineness money withdrawn from ATMs. Chakrabarty said the RBI has already made public the points related to checking the genuineness of currency notes. The basic methods of checking fake notes are made known to the public, he said.

vinayak.aj@thehindu.co.in

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