Currency notes on par with best global practices, clarifies RBI

MUMBAI: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has clarified that currency notes in the country are on par with the global best practices and within various tolerance parameters for dimension, placement of design, print features.

The central bank's clarification came days after the opposition Congress attacked the government for discrepancies in currency notes printed after demonetisation.

"The currency printing presses are equipped with state of the art machinery, documented systems and technically qualified personnel through which quality control is ensured at each stage of banknote production," the RBI said in a statement on its website.

RBI said it had integrated systems in place for inspection of each note at high speed which validate security features and print quality of the notes.

"The stringent quality control procedures also include various online and offline systems for inspection of final product quality. Labs with specialized paper and ink testing facilities, which verifies the specification parameters are available in the presses," RBI said.

The central bank rarely receives complaints from the members of public on banknotes with features beyond the acceptable tolerance levels, it said, "A standard operating procedure is in place for dealing with such rare cases wherein each such note is examined and corrective steps taken, if necessary."