Highlights
- According to Kishan Vishwakarma, who withdrew Rs 5,000 from his bank account for Diwali shopping, two of the Rs 200 notes that came out of the ATM had “Children Bank of India,” and “Full of Fun” written on them.
- A video of the incident shows a man displaying a note dispensed by the ATM.
- At first glance, the note looks identical to the original Rs 200 note, but a closer look reveals the differences.
Some bank customers in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh were left shocked after the money they had just withdrawn from an ATM turned out to be fake currencies.
The bizarre incident happened at an ATM in Munshiganj Road Sabzi Mandi area of the city.
According to Kishan Vishwakarma, who withdrew Rs 5,000 from his bank account for Diwali shopping, two of the Rs 200 notes that came out of the ATM had “Children Bank of India,” and “Full of Fun” written on them.
Video goes viral, probe ordered
He also claimed that at least one more person who had withdrawn cash from the ATM also got counterfeit currency notes.
The local police were called in and the police spokesman said that the matter would be investigated. He said that the concerned bank was being informed and investigations would begin on Thursday when the banks reopen after a long break.
A video of the incident shows a man displaying a note dispensed by the ATM.
At first glance, the note looks identical to the original Rs 200 note, but a closer look reveals the differences.
Not the first time for Children Bank of India notes
This is not the first time ATMs have dispensed counterfeit currency notes by ‘Children Bank of India’.
In February 2017, an SBI ATM in Delhi’s Sangam Vihar dispensed four fake notes of Rs 2,000 which had “Children Bank Of India” printed on them.
A similar incident was reported from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh in February 2018, when users withdrawing money received Rs 500 notes issued by Children Bank Of India.
In April 2018, some users withdrawing cash from an ATM in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh also received counterfeit notes which had Children Bank Of India written on them.
‘Currency notes’ by the Children Bank Of India, which are identical in size to the Indian currency notes have been in circulation for a long time.
Despite them having obvious differences in quality and prints, they were initially used by unscrupulous elements taking advantage of the confusion caused by demonitisation and the new currencies that were issued.
India’s struggle against counterfeit currencies
Even now counterfeit currencies remain a major challenge for the country.
In May this year, the annual report of the RBI said that the number of fake currency notes of Rs 500 denomination detected by the banking system more than doubled to 79,669 pieces in fiscal 2021-22 over the previous year.
The number of counterfeit notes of Rs 2,000 denomination detected in the system was 13,604 pieces during 2021-22, up 54.6% from the preceding financial year.
