New Delhi: During a recent deposition before the Parliamentary Committee on Finance, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra reportedly acknowledged that over one lakh fake ₹500 notes were detected during the financial year 2024–25. This came in response to a remark made by an MP, and Malhotra is said to have confirmed the figure.
The RBI’s annual report for 2024–25, released in May, noted that counterfeit ₹500 notes had risen by more than 37% compared to the previous year, totalling around 1.18 lakh fake notes—slightly higher than the figure mentioned by the MP in the committee meeting. Among all denominations, the ₹500 note remained the most frequently counterfeited.
According to the Tribune, Malhotra reportedly informed the committee, chaired by BJP MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, that although ₹2,000 notes have been withdrawn from circulation, they have not been invalidated and continue to hold legal tender status, the Wire reported.
He also shared data from the RBI’s report indicating that fake notes were found in other denominations as well, including over 51,069 counterfeit ₹100 notes, more than 32,660 pieces of ₹200 and around 3,508 pieces of ₹2,000. This is out of the total of over 6 crore notes.
Despite the spike in fake ₹500 notes, the overall number of counterfeit notes detected in 2024–25 remained close to the previous year's figure, with about 2.18 lakh fake notes identified—comparable to the 2.23 lakh reported in 2023–24.
Opposition members reportedly raised questions about the RBI’s functioning, pointing to possible inconsistencies in its roles. Congress MP Manish Tewari was among those who suggested that the central bank should narrow its focus to core areas like banking regulation, cautioning against overextending into multiple domains that might lead to conflicts of interest.
The committee is also said to have discussed matters related to cryptocurrency regulation, though details of the RBI’s comments on the issue have not been made public, according to The Times of India. The panel is expected to reconvene on July 23 or 24.