The menace of fake Indian currency notes (FICNs) is far more deep routed into our economy than we perceive it to be. The quantity of seized FICNs is just the tip of the iceberg. The FICNs not only cripples the economy but also insidiously and invisibly takes toll on the unsuspecting common man. A proliferation of Fake Currency could drag the economy to greater uncertainty, undermining a country’s confidence in its financial systems & hardness of its currency, in case not taken proper care of with utmost delegacies at all levels of managements & controls. It bound to hit the banking industry in their cash dealings with customers as also in their inter banking cash transactions.

The level of skills used in fabrication of fake notes varies depending upon the strength & weakness of the sources pumping the notes into the economy. Toy & Joy types of fake notes, fabricated comparatively at low scale by large number of small timers are easily detectible by visual & touch feel inspections but Other State Supported Fake Notes, pumped in at large scale are difficult to be detected by such manual inspections, as these states effectively can use their own infrastructures & technology of printing their own currency, most efficiently for fabrications & utmost resemblances of  fabricated notes  with that of genuine currency of victimized state.

Manual checking of notes is much time consuming, tedious, cumbersome, and laborious as also subject to human errors especially when large quantity of notes are required to be verified at cash desks.  Investments in imparting best training to the cashiers & other staff for discerning fake notes mixed up with large quantity of genuine notes can not pay back much rewards as human aptitudes have their own limitations for being varied, subjective  still much controversial.

Surprisingly, in spite, it is observed that most of the cash counters at Banks are dependant upon  only on conventional methods of checking validity of notes through  manual verification  or at the most through using ordinary equipments like UV & white lights,  note counting machines fitted with  such lights which bound to pass  Super Fake Notes as genuine. Evidently there have been many cases of fake notes being issued by ATMs or cash counters of Banks.  In fact there are no Genuine & accurate fake note detectors are being used at cash counters since the same have never been available so far  till the emergence of Paradigm –EXC 6700- I, in Jan 2009.

Apart from preventive & investigative measures witch have been taken up by law enforcing Governmental bodies, though not enough,  there is an urgent need of some proper currency validity verification process for detection of Fake notes at cash counters of Banks for controlling  the infiltrations of fake notes in banking channels, requiring some  genuinely effective, accurate & smooth Fake Notes detection devices which not only detects the fake notes but provides incidental & ancillary  functions like value & number counting of notes, displays the reasons of rejection of notes for proper adjudication of validity after due deliberations etc. 
Suitable detection devices are badly needed for nabbing the fake notes at very root level of its deposits at cash counters and also for cutting huge losses on account of erroneous acceptance of fake notes as genuine as also saving  huge investments in staff training for efficiency in manual verification, further more it is needed for effective compliance of statutory provisions prescribed by law as preventive & investigative measures for curbing the prevalent menace of fake notes, most importantly for joining in national fights against menace of fake notes.

Indian Penal Code- 1860, sections, 120-B, 420, 489 A to E etc  have provided for stringent penal procedures for handling fake notes which includes life imprisonments and/or fines.RBI Master circular No RBI/2008-2009/87-DCM (FNVD) No.G-1 /16.01.05/ 2008-09, dated July 1, 2008 has issued guidelines to Banks requiring them to impound the fake notes which may be presented fraudulently for deposits and also required Banks to have their own Fake Notes Vigilance divisions to deal with the subject & report to RBI.

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RBI Master Circular

RBI Guildlines on Note Authentication

Highly sophisticated and skillfully fabricated fake notes that resemble valid notes to a greater extent, goes undetected at cash counters of Banks and silently infiltrates into the Banking channel. Practices & Devices currently used at cash counters of the Banks for checking the validity of the notes through visual & touch feel inspection, verification though UV/White/IR light fitted devices, magnifiers, note counting /sorting machines etc are inadequate & incompetent for piping into the natty –gritty of complicated security features of the notes for the purpose of discerning the fake notes mixed up with genuine notes.
“It is very difficult to distinguish FICNs with original Indian currency Notes. The fake currency is brand new and it is similar to the one, which was released latest by the Reserve Bank of India. The quality of this currency is much better than that of the scanned currency, normally contrived by the perpetrators by using scanners and computers”. As observed by senior government official.

Validity verifications of currency notes for identifying and discerning fake notes mixed up with the valid notes needs detailed inspections of all the important & most intricate security features on the surfaces of the notes as also inspections of these security features in their inter relationship in terms of all possible permutations & combinations and mutually related arrangements.

It has been understood and found that the Series prefix and distinctive numbers are smaller in size, alignment of Series prefix and distinctive numbers is not in line when carefully examined, thick lettering has been used for printing the issuing authority’s name i.e., ‘Reserve Bank of India’ and guarantee and promise clauses, Continuity of Security Thread is not maintained, alignment of the register on the left hand side of the watermark is not proper,. Watermark at the left hand side bears a thicker effigy of Mahatma Gandhi and the eyes and spectacles in the effigy are thicker in size, intaglio printing is absent, the optical fiber marks are present when exposed to UV lamp but these are very few when compared to genuine notes, security thread does not glow under UV lamp, the paper used for the purpose seems to have been made of wood pulp.

 Apart from the mentioned variations , the varied designs of valid notes also create puzzles while  differentiations of fake and genuine notes, as also, spoilages of notes caused due to mass mishandling of notes by public also creates  large numbers of variations  & thereby complications, such that every note constitutes its own separate independent entity. With every single “hand- changing” the notes gets new entity in form of its own verity.

The mentioned complications on notes make the validity verification & Fake Note Detection task much difficult to be carried out by man or machines unless machine is specially developed considering the minutest factors influencing the process of validity verification & fake note detection where man can fail. 

Paradigm EXC 6700-I, has been specially developed for Indian Currency Notes considering many difficult & intricate factors influencing ICNs. It has necessitated a Herculean task of continuous R & D efforts of 3 years before achieving a major success in developing an effective & accurate doubtful & fake note detector for ICNs

In spite of such high complications involved with the notes whether genuine or fake it has been largely observed that validity of notes has been checked by the cashiers simultaneously while manual counting. However the human aptitudes of visual & touch feel verification with or without handy tools is having large numbers of natural limitations, not enough to serve the purpose of detection at cash counters, as there have been many invisible, high end & “difficult to forge” security features on the valid notes which invariably are supposed to be examined accurately while verifying validity on the notes seems to have remain unchecked, requiring highly sophisticated machine to examine the intricacies of security features of the valid notes.

Validity verification through machine needs provisions of perfect equilibrium amongst speed of notes’ transits to verification chamber, accuracy of detection by appropriate sensor  systems, best technical time required for checking large number of criterions of notes, compatible note transits mechanism and  prevention  of frequent note jamming problems through strait and un curved & un zigzag not transits tracks.

The counting & sorting machines in these respects have inherent technical limitations  of maintaining required equilibrium due to their very high speeds of transporting 100 notes in 4 seconds, with most non-aligned note transport mechanism to the fixed located sensor systems. Technical design of Note counting  machine with friction type fins rotations and zigzag & curved notes transits track do not leave any scope for proper placements of sensors to bring the notes and large number of check points in best needed alignment for reading the highly complicated security features.  Sorting machines are just extended note counting machines with more than one pocket with the similar extended technical designs can’t provide much extra mileages for fake note detection & validity verification.
High speed note counting & sorting machines technically are dependent on image base technology wherein stored images are compared with scanned images unlike the Digital Data base Technology which compares digital value to the minute extend with the pre stored digital value derived after analyses of large number of representative notes.
The super speed verifications of validity results into either passing of sophisticated fake notes as genuine or giving disproportionate quantity of False Alarms throwing valid & genuine notes in reject pockets.
While counting machine can only discern is toy type fake notes or pieces of papers, sorting machines as extended version of counting machines with more than one pockets, at the most can sort out suspect notes, although disproportionately with large number of false alarms causing further confusion of adjudication of validity.
Note counting machines fitted with UV or IR sensors or sorting machines fitted with color sensors or light sensors or Image sensors can not accurately pipe into such required complicated aspects involved with the validity verification functions due to their technically incompatible extraordinary speed which cant have enough time to scan the complication of security features, quality of notes influencing validity verification of notes.

 

The operations of note counting and sorting & validity verification and fake note detection are incomparable with one another for respective accuracies, speeds and operational importance; however it is observed that there prevails a serious misconception of taking these functions at par and with equivalent weight age and hence an honest attempt is made to highlight the conceptual differences in the tabular form for better discerning and proper understanding of its imparity an difference in weight ages for considering the true relative value involved.

Comparison between Note counting machine/sorting machine and Multi Currency Super Fake Note Detector

Sr. No	Note counting/ sorting Machines	Multi Currency Super Fake Notre Detectors
1	Based Technology: Works on image base technology – comparing images of notes under process with pre stored images.  Do not check the physical & chemical property of paper, ink & other materials used in the notes.        The Deployed sensor systems:  Compatible only for image verification and note for digital data verification	Based Technology: Works on  both digital data base and image based technology – comparing scanned digital data & images of notes with pre stored digital data and images  derived from all quality & designs of representative valid notes by giving appropriate tolerance, weight age & ranges to various spoilage & defects of valid notes which has been caused due to mishandling during circulation. The digital date takes care of physical & chemical properties of Papers, inks & other materials  Deployed sensor  Systems: Compatible  for  both digital data & image verification
2.	Scanning method: Over all checking of notes’ surface without going into the intricacy of sensitive security features of the notes with super  speed of 4 -8 seconds per 100 notes passing   through friction type fins operated curved & zigzag notes transits track responsible for frequent note jamming problems	Scanning method: Detailed scanning of surface of the notes so as to discern the minute fluctuations in intricate security features of the notes   with the  technically suitable & optimum speed of  65 -70 seconds per 100 notes  for perfection of thorough  scanning through well guided straight note transits track. No Frequent note jamming problem unless note is of very bad quality. The speed apparently, compared to that of sorting machines gives impression of being slower but it maintains the perfect balance of speed and accuracy and is much faster than the process of manual verification of single note through visual & touch feel inspection with or without handy supporting tools like magnifiers, UV/white lights etc requiring 5-10 minutes or more for verification of 100 notes.
3	Verification chamber: The mentioned mechanism of note transits has  inherent  constraints of  un- uniformed wobbled transits of notes without smooth, free & uninterrupted flow of notes , improper  and insufficient space for fixation of high end  sensors systems, non alignments of check points with sensors,  etc which is a must need for accurate validity verification & Fake NoteDetection.     Such precision is not needed for sorting of notes as sorting requires over all verification Without going into intricate security features.	Verification chamber: The mentioned mechanism of note transits offers sufficient space for  proper  fixation of high end sensor systems, alignments of check points with sensors,  smooth & uninterrupted  flow of notes  etc which is a must needed for accurate validity verification & Fake NoteDetection.
4	Check Points and Super Speed  for sorting: Quality & Quantity of check points simple and very few and hence super high speed process of 100 notes in 4 seconds  is compatible for sorting functions only but not for validity verification & fake note detection  operations as it skips checking of   large number of intricate security features of the valid notes with such super speed	Check Points & Super  speed for accurate validity verification and Fake Note  Detection: Quantity & quality of check points very large in numbers & highly intricate hence optimum operational and note super speed require for precise judgments. Super speed operation tends to skip large number of check points causing misjudgments of validity. Optimum best speed technically permitted could not be more than 70 seconds for 100 notes.
5	Super Speed & Accuracy of validity verification & detection of Fake Notes: High  Speed  not technically compatible for validity verification and fake note detection  operation and hence can not offer accurate validity verification and fake note detection functions	Optimum Speed & Accuracy of validity verification & detection of Fake Notes: Optimum Speed technically is compatible   for validity verification operation and hence only can offer accurate validity verification and fake note detection functions and hence should be regarded as best for the purpose. This optimum speed is incomparable with the speed of sorters as applications of both the machines are different
6	Chances of  Passing Fake Notes as genuine: Very high in case of sophisticated super quality of fake notes as such fake notes carry deceptive images similar to images of genuine notes   False Alarms: Disproportionately high  as genuine notes are rejected in large numbers by comparing the scanned  images with stores images	Chances of  Passing Fake Notes  as Genuine: No chances of passing Fake Notes in all case    False Alarms: No False alarm as reasons of rejection of every note displayed through error codes
7	Utility at Currency Chests: Sorters most compatible at currency chests as quality sorting is the primary tasks of currency chests	Utility at Currency Chests: Large number of rejected notes by sorters with false alarms  can be examine to verify the validity of such sorter rejected notes
8	Size , weight & portability: Compatible at currency chests but incompatible at cash counters	Size , weight & portability : Compatible at cash counters & currency chests
9	No reasons of Rejection of notes as Suspect indicated: Suspect notes are thrown into reject pocket without indicating reasons through error codes.	Reasons of Rejection of notes as suspects indicated: Reasons of rejections of suspect notes are displayed through error codes to help further adjudication by appropriate authority.