Change old, soiled notes for fresh ones

Pushpa Girimaji

Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued large advertisements in the print media, urging consumers to exchange old, soiled, torn, damaged or defective currency notes. Titled “Aadat Badlo, Note Badlo”, the advertisement assured consumers that this can be done at any of the bank branches close to them. If any bank branch refuses an exchange, lodge a complaint with the bank, the RBI said. I was very happy seeing that advertisement because many of the currency notes in circulation, particularly denominations of Rs 50 and below, are extremely dirty and go against the RBI’s ‘clean note’ policy. Given the fact that such notes can be a source of infections in the community, they should not be in circulation at all.

Even as I was prompting consumers and retailers to get rid of old and soiled notes for fresh ones came the announcement from the RBI withdrawing notes of Rs 2,000 from circulation, and asking consumers to either deposit them in their accounts or exchange them for smaller denomination notes at bank branches before September 30. Will this new move affect last month’s assurance of changing old notes? I would urge the RBI to make sure that banks exchange soiled notes of other denominations too and not use the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 currency as an excuse to deny such exchange. If the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes is part of the ‘clean note’ policy as claimed by RBI, then exchanging dirty currency notes of lower denominations should get even more importance.

I would urge all consumers taking their Rs 2,000 notes to the bank to also carry soiled notes of other denominations and get them changed. Even if you do not have a Rs 2,000 note, this is the time to get rid of filthy and tattered currency notes. If any bank refuses to change them, quote them the Master Direction of April 13, sent by the RBI to all banks, saying, “All branches of banks in all parts of the country are mandated to provide the following customer services more actively and vigorously to the members of the public, so that there is no need to approach the RBI regional offices.”

One of the customer services listed is ‘Exchanging soiled, mutilated, defective notes’. “All branches shall provide the above facilities to members of the public without any discrimination on all working days,” says the RBI.

Another Master Direction on ‘Scheme of penalties’ for bank branches and currency chests for deficiency in rendering customer service to members of public, imposes a penalty of Rs 10,000 for refusal by any bank branch to exchange soiled, mutilated notes tendered by a member of the public. If there are more than five such cases of deficiency, the penalty would be Rs 5 lakh and the levy of such penalty shall be placed in the public domain, says the RBI.

In the last two decades, scientists have extracted from currency surfaces a wide range of pathogens causing infections and illnesses.

A recent study conducted in Chennai of 65 notes of Rs 10, 20, 50 and 100 denominations collected from 26 different sources, showed all of them to be tainted with pathogens.

Several studies have also confirmed that the older the notes, the higher the percentage of microbes on the surface.

So, get rid of grimy notes and remember it’s a healthy habit to wash your hands when handling currency. Also, be careful if the same person handling food at an eatery is handling cash as well.

— The writer is a consumer rights expert