In charts: Increase in fake note seizures, rise in counterfeit Rs 200 notes

In five years to 2021, fake currency notes seized across India more than doubled, even as cases filed for such seizures fell 50%, suggesting an increase in volume per seizure.

In 2022, the latest year for which data is available with the National Crime Records Bureau, Indian law enforcement agencies seized Rs 382 crore in 4.2 million fake currency notes. Compared to the previous year, this was seven times in volume and 19 times in value.

But fewer counterfeit notes are making it to the banks, data from the Reserve Bank of India shows. In 2022, banks detected about 230,000 fake notes – roughly two fake notes for every million notes in circulation. In 2016, before the government took the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes out of circulation, seven notes per million were detected as fake in banks, as IndiaSpend reported that year.

By contrast, National Crime Records Bureau data for the same year shows law enforcement seizing more than 4.2 million fake notes, equivalent to around 32 counterfeit notes per million.

Overall, per million notes of specific denominations in circulation by the end of March 2025, banks detected about two fake notes of Rs 100 and Rs 500 each, and four counterfeit Rs 200 notes.

In May 2023, Rs 2,000 notes were withdrawn from...

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