Size of currency notes reduced to make them pocket-friendly: RBI to Bombay high court

An HC bench of chief justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice Bharati Dangre was hearing a public interest litigation filed by the National Association for the Blind (NAB), highlighting difficulties faced by the blind in identifying new currency notes and coins.

Size of currency notes has been reduced to make them wallet friendly, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told the Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday.

Size of currency notes has been reduced to make them wallet friendly, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told the Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday. (PTI)

“Internationally, the size of currency notes is not as big as once it was in India. Even the US dollar is much smaller in size,” senior advocate VR Dhond, who represented the banking regulator, said.

An HC bench of chief justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice Bharati Dangre was hearing a public interest litigation filed by the National Association for the Blind (NAB), highlighting difficulties faced by the blind in identifying new currency notes and coins. The petitioner body has sought directions to the RBI to include distinctive features in currency notes as also in coins so that blind and low-vision persons can easily identify them.

“It took us so many years to understand this,” said the chief justice in lighter vein. “Now notes will become wallet friendly, the wallet will become pocket friendly and the pocket will become man friendly. So eventually, the fashion designer will… [decide the size of the notes].”

An affidavit filed by the RBI in response to the PIL said wallet friendliness will reduce wear and tear of notes. It added that the constant increase in demand of notes requires the RBI to review the size of notes and reduced size of notes will also help enhance production efficiency, saving on investment of new printing lines and reduced printing ink requirements.

Dhond said the RBI was cognisant of the difficulties faced by the visually impaired in identifying denominations of currency notes and has, therefore, introduced tactical identification marks on new high denomination notes. These are bleedlines unique to each note which help visually impaired persons identify them.

Counsel for the petitioner body, advocate Uday Warunjikar, however, complained the bleedlines are not available in notes of lesser denominations, like ₹10, ₹20 and ₹50 notes. Besides, he complained, the bleedlines fade away within a few days of use.

Dhond responded saying the marks are not provided on notes of lesser denominations primarily because of their higher circulation and the likelihood of the marks fading away easily.

The RBI affidavit stated that old notes of lesser denomination carry intaglio marks, but apart from increasing production cycle of the notes from 14-17 days to 17-21 days, the marks – solid blocks of varied shapes on a side of the note – are lost over a period of time, as lower denomination notes change hands more frequently. So the RBI has decided to stop printing these marks on lower denomination notes.

Dhond also pointed out the mobile phone application ordered to be developed by the banking regulator is expected to be available by November and will aid the visually impaired. The statement prompted the bench to make a comment with indirect reference to communication blockage in Jammu and Kashmir. “We have a state where there is no internet connectivity today. Phones are not working… How will blind people identify notes using this app there,” the judges asked. The senior advocate replied clarifying the app will not require internet connection to identify the notes. All they will need to do is to install the app on their mobile phones and hold the note in front of their phone camera, he said.

The court adjourned the hearing on the PIL to Friday.