On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of ₹1,000 and ₹500 notes with immediate effect, stating that the move would serve as a major assault on black money, counterfeit currencies, and corruption. The days that followed the announcement saw public panic with long queues at ATMs and widespread economic disruption, particularly in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). While the jury is still out on the exercise’s impact on eradicating black money and corruption, the latest ‘Crime in India’ report of the National Crime Records Bureau for 2024 shows that almost a decade later, the problem of fake currency still persists.

According to the data, over ₹54.61 crore worth of fake currencies were seized from various States in India. Currencies seized included about six lakh ₹500 notes and more than one lakh ₹2,000 notes — which the Reserve Bank of India decided to withdraw from circulation in May 2023 although it continues to remain a legal tender.

The chart below shows the value of counterfeit Indian currency seized by authorities over the last decade.

A total of ₹638 crore worth of fake currencies have been seized since 2017, the year after demonetisation. The value of counterfeit notes seized in 2024 was also the third highest since 2016. In the year 2020, when COVID-19 broke out, seizures of ₹92 crore were seen. In 2022, two years after the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, counterfeit currencies valued at a whopping ₹382.6 crore were seized.

Data also points to an increase in counterfeit currencies of ₹500 notes and ₹2,000 notes. The number of ₹500 notes seized by authorities in 2024 was almost four times the notes seized in 2016. The number of counterfeit ₹2,000 notes, introduced after demonetisation, increased almost twice than what it was in 2017.

Besides the data recorded by the NCRB on seizures by law enforcement authorities, data from Parliament showed that more than 11 lakh counterfeit notes of varying denominations, valued at a total of ₹40.26 crore, were detected and reported after they entered the banking system in the five-year period between 2020-21 and 2024-25. That is, an average of roughly two lakh counterfeit notes have been detected each year by the banks.

A denomination-wise break up of these notes implies that new currencies like ₹200 and ₹500 which were reintroduced are also being counterfeited. More than four lakh ₹500 notes belonging to the new series printed after demonetisation made up about 37% of these notes. Close to three lakh ₹100 notes accounted for 26% of the counterfeits reported in banks.

A State-wise breakup of counterfeit notes seized shows that Gujarat accounted for the highest value of fake money seized between 2017 and 2024. The value of fake currency seized in the State valued at ₹355.72 crore, accounted for more than half of the value of all the seizures in the country during this period. Maharashtra and Karnataka followed Gujarat, accounting for seizures of counterfeit currencies worth ₹100 crore and ₹50 crore respectively.

Data from the RBI also showed that as of May this year, over 174 billion notes were in circulation valued at a total of more than ₹42.12 lakh crore, an increase of about 137% compared to November 2016, when currency in circulation was valued at ₹17.74 lakh crore.

This indicates that the demonetisation exercise’s other objective of bringing down currency transactions has also not had the desired impact.

The data for the charts were sourced from National Crime Records Bureau and Parliament Questions and Answers