New Delhi, July 9 The Union Ministry of Finance has told the Delhi High Court that at present, it has no proposal under consideration regarding the introduction of a Rs 50 coin.
The Centre’s response came in the backdrop of a plea, filed by advocates Rohit Dandriyal and Mini Agrawal, which sought directions to issue Rs 50 coin, highlighting the distress and inequalities faced by visually impaired citizens due to the design of the Rs 50 currency note, which makes it difficult for them to distinguish between denominations.
Referring to the findings of a survey conducted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2022, the Union Ministry of Finance, in its affidavit, highlighted the preference for banknotes over coins for the Rs 10 and Rs 20 denomination since the weight and size of coins, particularly similarity in size across denominations, posed significant impediments to the usage of coins.
It said the decision to introduce a circulation coin of a particular denomination depends on multiple factors, including the public's readiness to accept the coin and the frequency of its use in everyday transactions.
“As indicated by the Reserve Bank of India's survey, the public currently shows a preference for banknotes over coins in the Rs 10 and Rs 20 denominations. Therefore, any decision to introduce a Rs 50 coin would depend on several factors, including requirement of the economy, degree of public acceptance, etc., in addition to the concerns of the visually impaired persons,” said the affidavit sworn by an Under Secretary in Coin & Currency Division of the Department of Economic Affairs.
The plea before the Delhi HC contended that while currency notes of other denominations are designed to be accessible to visually impaired persons, the Rs 50 note lacks such features.
The applicants asserted that the Rs 50 note is visually indistinguishable from the Rs 100 and Rs 500 notes, and no coin of Rs 50 denomination is presently available as an alternative.
As per them, the Rs 50 note does not contain any intaglio printing or tactile markings, thereby rendering it inaccessible to visually impaired individuals and leaving no effective substitute in circulation.
In its response, the Union Ministry of Finance said that the banknotes bear identification marks on the front side, including raised (intaglio) printing, with distinct shapes corresponding to different denominations for the benefit of visually impaired persons.
It said, “Banknotes of denominations 100 and above contain angular bleed lines as a feature to aid the visually impaired: the Rs 100 note contains four angular lines in two blocks; the Rs 200 note contains four angular lines in two blocks, with two circles in between; the Rs 500 note contains five angular lines in three blocks, and the Rs 2000 note, which have now been withdrawn from circulation, contains seven angular lines.”
However, the Union Ministry of Finance acknowledged that such identification marks in the form of raised printing are not present in the Rs 10, Rs 20, and Rs 50 denominations of the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series.
According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the reintroduction of intaglio printing in lower denomination notes was found to be unfeasible, as the tactile effect of such printing tends to erode more rapidly due to the high frequency of handling. Given that lower denomination notes circulate more extensively, the deterioration of tactile features over time is more pronounced, stated the affidavit, adding that the reintroduction of intaglio printing in these denominations would have significant implications on both the cost and efficiency of currency production.
Further, the reply document said that the RBI had launched a mobile application, MANI (Mobile Aided Note Identifier) in 2020 to aid visually impaired persons to identify the denomination of banknotes.
“The app can be downloaded free of cost and is being used by around 15 lakh users. The app can be used to identify the denomination of all currency notes of the Mahatma Gandhi series (new and old),” said the Union Ministry of Finance.
Praying that the Delhi High Court dismiss the plea, the affidavit said that at present, no proposal regarding the introduction of a Rs 50 coin is under consideration by the Department of Economic Affairs.
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