Lok Sabha Question No. 41 (STARRED), answered on 2016-11-18
Subject: Counterfeit Currency
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: REKHA ARUN VERMA, PANKAJ CHOWDHARY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 41 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18 TH NOVEMBER, 2016/27 TH KARTIKA, SAKA, 1938

## COUNTERFEIT CURRENCY

- 41*. SHRIMATI REKHA VERMA: SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY:

## QUESTION

## Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) Whether the Government has taken note of circulation of counterfeit currency notes on a large scale in the country;
- (c) whether  the  Government  has  assessed  the  deleterious  impact  of  counterfeit currency on the economy of the country, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) if so, the details of such cases reported along with sources thereof during the last three years and the current year;
- (d) whether the government/Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued any directive to deal with the counterfeit currency, and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the  various  measures  taken  by  the  Government  to  stem  out  the  prevalence  of counterfeit currency in the country?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF FINANCE (SHRI ARUN JAITLEY)

- (a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the House

## Statement referred in reply to Lok Sabha Starred Q. No. 41* to be answered on 18 th November, 2016 regarding Counterfeit Currency

As per  information  received  from National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB)  the details of counterfeit/Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) detected is as follows:

| Year                |   Total no. of pieces of notes (for all denominations) |   Total value (in Rs.) |
|---------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|
| 2013                |                                                 846966 |              429025555 |
| 2014                |                                                 801528 |              405802845 |
| 2015                |                                                 886058 |              438343665 |
| 2016 upto 30.9.2016 |                                                 574176 |              277939965 |

Use  of Counterfeit/FICNs  is  causing  various  subversive  activities  such  as espionage, smuggling of arms, drugs and other contraband in India. It is the main cause of  parallel  shadow  economy.  The World  Bank  in  July,  2010  estimated  the  size  of  the shadow economy for India at 23.2% of the GDP in 2007. A parallel shadow economy corrodes and eats into the vitals of the country's economy. It can generate inflation and deprives Government of its legitimate revenues.

One special FICN Coordination (FCORD) Group has been formed in the Ministry of Home Affairs to share the intelligence/information amongst different security agencies of States/Centre to counter the menace of circulation of fake currency notes in the country. A Terror Funding and Fake Currency Cell (TFFC) has been established under National Investigation Agency (NIA) to stop the activities providing terrorist funding and FICN. In a recent development, with a view to curbing financing of terrorism through the proceeds of counterfeit/FICNs and also eliminating black money, Government has decided to cancel the legal tender character of the High Denomination bank notes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denominations issued by the RBI.

Further, incorporating new security features/new designs in the banknotes to stay ahead of the counterfeiters is an ongoing process. Towards this end, new banknotes of Rs. 500 and Rs. 2000 have been introduced in new design recently.

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