Government told Delhi High Court there’s no plan for an Rs 50 coin due to public preference for notes. RBI survey shows coins are less used, especially Rs 10 and Rs 20.
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NEW DELHI: The Central Government informed the Delhi High Court that it currently has no plans to introduce an Rs 50 coin in India, as people still prefer using currency notes over coins, especially for the Rs 10 and Rs 20 denominations.
The Department of Economic Affairs from the Union Ministry of Finance filed an official reply to a petition in court that was asking the government to issue Rs 50 coins.
The government explained that this idea is not being considered right now because of how people are using existing currency.
“With regard to the feasibility of introducing a Rs 50 coin, it is submitted that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conducted a survey in 2022 to analyze the usage patterns of existing coins and banknotes in circulation. The findings revealed a preference for banknotes over coins for the Rs 10 and Rs 20 denominations,”
-the government said in its written statement to the court.
The reply also highlighted that survey participants found it hard to use coins because of their weight and similar size, which made them confusing. Many users said that this issue made using coins less convenient in everyday life.
According to the government, deciding whether to introduce a new coin in circulation depends on many things, such as how often people would use it and how ready they are to accept it in their daily routine.
“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. At present, no proposal regarding introduction of a Rs 50 coin is under consideration by the Department.”
The petitioners told the court that they had studied the problems faced by visually impaired persons because of the way some currency notes are designed.
They pointed out that even though notes of Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 500, and Rs 2,000 have features that help visually impaired people identify them, the Rs 50 note does not.
“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,”
-said the plea before the court.
Responding to this, the government explained that Rs 10, Rs 20, and Rs 50 notes of the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series do not have such tactile identification marks.
“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. Moreover, the reintroduction of intaglio printing in these denominations would have significant implications on both the cost and efficiency of currency production,”
-the reply stated.
However, to help visually impaired people, the RBI had earlier introduced a mobile application called MANI (Mobile Aided Note Identifier) in the year 2020.
This app helps visually impaired users to recognize currency denominations easily using mobile phone technology.
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