Among the many jobs of the central bank, currency management is one—it includes keeping an account of and removing from circulation, any fake currency detected in the system during a given year. According to the recent report released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)  counterfeit notes of all denominations increased in the financial year 2021-22 (FY22).

According to RBI, among all notes that saw an increase of fake notes, Rs 500 was the worst hit. As compared to last year the central bank detected 101.9% more fake notes of Rs 500 denomination and a 54.16% increase in fake notes of Rs 2,000 tender.

In value terms, the share of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 banknotes together accounted for 87.1% of the total value of banknotes in circulation as on March 31, 2022, as against 85.7% as on March 31, 2021. In volume terms, Rs 500 denomination constituted the highest share at 34.9%, followed by Rs 10 denomination banknotes, which constituted 21.3% of the total banknotes in circulation as on March 31, 2022, the report added.

Compared to the previous year, there was an increase of 16.4%, 16.5%, 11.7%, 101.9% and 54.6% in the counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 200, Rs 500 (new design) and Rs 2000, respectively. The counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of Rs 50 and Rs 100 declined by 28.7% and 16.7%, respectively, said RBI.