2018-07-02 Mon

The Reserve Bank of India is planning to introduce new features to help the visually impaired people identify banknotes. They are looking to produce an appropriate device or mechanism for achieving this. Different organisations from the visually challenged community have are being consulted and a set of guidelines might be released within six months. The Reserve Bank officials stated that technological advancement has given way to new opportunities for introducing features that will simplify day-to-day transactions for the visually impaired.

A PIL was filed in the Delhi high court last year as the newly issued Rs 50 and Rs 200 currency notes did not have special features to help the visually impaired people differentiate between the two denominations. The old series Rs 50 banknote had a square above the emblem on the left side while the Rs 100 note has a triangle. The newly issued Rs 2,000 banknotes have seven lines on both sides of the notes. All these features help the visually impaired persons identify denominations.

Australia and Malaysia issue each type of banknote in a different length and width. Banknotes of Canada have Braille dots for identification purposes. US Banknotes are of the same size which makes it difficult for the visually impaired persons to identify banknotes.

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