SBI ATM in Delhi Spits Out Fake Rs 2,000 Notes by 'Children Bank of India'

New Delhi: A Delhiite’s trip to an ATM of the State Bank of India revealed the extent of the fake currency racket in the country when the machine dispensed fake Rs 2,000 notes from the ‘Children Bank of India’.

The notes, withdrawn by one Rohit in Delhi’s Sangam Vihar Tigdi on February 6, look similar to the Rs 2,000 notes introduced after demonetisation last year. A closer look revealed the following anomalies:

- The notes said ‘Children’s Bank of India’ where the Reserve Bank of India’s name is written

- It said ‘Churan Label’ where the Ashoka Chakra should have been and is also ‘Guaranteed by Children Government’

- It has a ‘P.K’ label instead of the RBI seal

- Next to Mahatma Gandhi’s image it says "I promise to pay the barer two thousand coupens" instead of "I promise to pay the bearer the sum of ₹2,000…"

Shocked at having received such notes from an ATM of the country’s largest lender, the state-run SBI, Rohit first contacted his friend, who is a lawyer, and then informed the police. Rohit had withdrawn Rs 8,000 and all four Rs 2,000 notes dispensed by the ATM turned out to be fake. An FIR was registered Sections 489 B, 489 E and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and the State Bank of India was informed about the same.

The incident became fuel for social media humour and made 'Children Bank of India' one of the top trends on Wednesday.

In a statement, the State Bank of India said: “It has come to Bank’s notice through media reports that some fake Rs.2000/- notes have reportedly been dispensed by SBI’s ATM at Sangam Vihar, New Delhi on February 06, 2017. SBI has in place, at all its Currency Chests a very robust system for monitoring the quality of notes. All notes received by the Bank and to be dispensed by the Bank, either through its ATMs or its branches, are processed through the latest state-of-the-art ‘Note Sorting Machines’. These machines are equipped with the templates of all legal tender in the country and any note not conforming to the security features is separated as ‘Suspect Note’ for further manual scrutiny. Thus, no fake note is likely to be dispensed through Bank’s ATMs at any time. In the Sangam Vihar case, it is reported that the complainant never approached the Bank. However, media reports tell that the Police I/O has confirmed that his withdrawal from the same ATM resulted in the dispensation of a similar note confirming the allegation. This ATM has reportedly been sealed by Delhi Police for further investigation.”

“The DVSS footage obtained from the ATM has been handed over to the Police authorities. Meanwhile, the Bank is examining the notes in all other ATMs handled by the same custodians of the Bank and replenished by the same Cash Replenishment Agency. As the possibility of fake notes from Bank’s ATMs is very remote, the Bank suspects involvement of some miscreants with mischievous intent. However, further investigations are underway,” the bank said.

The incident comes days after the Border Security Force seized fake Rs 2,000 denomination notes near the Bangladesh border. The notes, however, were more similar to a genuine Rs 2,000 notes than the ones dispensed by the SBI ATM.