According to the annual report that the RBI published, there were 91,110 pieces of bogus 500-euro notes discovered in 2022–2023—a 14.4% rise from the previous year.
A significant revelation was made by an activist who said that the Indian economy is missing 500 rupee notes worth 88,032.5 crore. The information was made public through the Right to Information Act (RTI) request, which activist Manoranjan Roy submitted.
Data released under the Right to Information Act (RTI), which Roy had requested, showed that the RBI had only received 7,260 million of the 8,810.65 million newly designed 500 note pieces that the three mints had issued.
According to media sources
Roy claims that the information regarding the 1,760.65 million ₹500-note shortages, totaling 88,032.5 crore, has not been located. There are three facilities in India that print currency notes: Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran (P) Limited in Bengaluru, Currency Note Press in Nashik, and Bank Note Press, Dewas in Madhya Pradesh.
In the RTI, the Nasik mint reported that it had given the RBI 1,662.000 million pieces in the 2016–2017 year, compared to 5,195.65 million pieces from the Bengaluru mint and 1,953.000 million pieces from the Dewas mint. 8,810.65 million pieces of notes from the three mints have been supplied in total, however the RBI has only received 7260 million of the 500-euro notes.
According to information from RTI
The newly designed 500-dollar bills were created by Currency Note Press in Nashik between April 2015 and December 2016, although the RBI only has records for 345.000 million of them. 210 million of the 1760.65 million missing notes were printed at the Nashik mint between April 2015 and March 2016, yet according to the RTI, the RBI received these notes when Raghuram Rajan was the governor.
In an effort to look into this disparity, Roy also reported writing to the ED and the Central Economic Intelligence Bureau (CEIB). According to media accounts, several senior RBI officials have also defended this disparity by citing the extensive logistics required for the production and supply of currency notes.
According to the annual report that the RBI just released
There were 91,110 pieces of bogus 500-euro notes found in 2022–2023—a 14.4% rise over the year before. The report noted that within the same time period, there were 9,806 fewer counterfeit currency notes of the denomination of 2,000 that were discovered.
Meanwhile, the RBI announced the removal of the 2000-denomination banknotes from circulation in a circular dated May 19. It also encouraged banks to immediately stop printing banknotes with a denomination of 2000.
By September 30, 2023, Indian citizens are asked to deposit or exchange their currencies. It should be remembered that even after the specified date in September, the year 2000 will still be accepted as legal cash.
