Everyone knows the RBI prints currency in India but a young call centre executive stood perplexed in a SBI ATM in south-east Delhi early February after it dispensed off four Rs 2,000 notes issued by “Children’s Bank of India”.
If not more, the four notes he got from the ATM in Sangam Vihar had at least ten deviations in printing from serial number “000000” to the solemn promise of “guaranteed by Children Government” to “pay the barer two thousand coupens (sic)”.
The script did not end there as Rohith, the victim, immediately called police. Soon a Sub Inspector arrived to check the veracity of his claims and withdrew cash, the investigator was in for a rude shock as he too got a Rs 2000 note issued by “CBI” and not RBI with an inscription ‘Bharatiya Manoranjan Bank’ ((Indian Entertainment Bank).
The ATM dispensed off fake notes with a face value of Rs 2,000 on February 6 with at least ten variations, most of them hilarious, from the original. The incident came to light after Rohith withdrew Rs 8,000 from his account which had a balance of Rs 8,425.85.
The notes withdrawn by Rohith also had ‘churan label’ printed where the Ashoka Chakra should have been. In place of RBI seal, the letter “P.K” is used. It also “promise to pay the barer two thousand coupens” instead of “I promise to pay the bearer the sum of ₹2,000.”
Earlier, instances of discovery of Rs 2,000 notes without Mahatma Gandhi’s photo were there but authorities had said that those were “printing errors” and notes were “genuine”.
The Rs 2,000 notes were issued soon after the government announced demonetisation on November 8 last year. The issue of fake notes in ATMs raises questions about banks and firms filling money in such facilities.
Police has already registered a case of cheating and scanned through the CCTV footage to identify the last man to fill the cash in the machine. “Till now, there have been no other complaints. Probably, only a few notes were changed. We have to identify at which point the real notes were exchanged,” a senior police official said.
According to the FIR, Rohith immediately asked the ATM guard. Sources said the guard immediately informed his superiors following which the ATM was shut down.
The Sub Inspector, who arrived at the spot, also had asked locals about receipt of such notes but no one else had received such notes.
(An edited version appeared in Deccan Herald on Feb 23, 2017)
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