Mumbai: Have included tactile features in currency notes for easy identification for visually challenged, RBI tells Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court was informed on Monday by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) that it has included several tactile features in currency notes so that visually impaired can easily identify the same.

A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M S Karnik was hearing a petition filed by the National Association of the Blind (NAB), claiming that the new currency notes and coins posed difficulty for the visually-impaired people in identifying and distinguishing them.

Uday Warunjikar, advocate for NAB, told the court that earlier the notes and coins were of different sizes and hence were easily identifiable. “The RBI after filing of this plea developed a mobile application which could be used by visually impaired people,” he said.

Senior counsel Venkatesh Dhond, appearing for the RBI, informed the court that apart from developing the application, the RBI had also consulted with several associations working for the visually-impaired people. “The RBI has developed several tactile features in the currency notes including identification marks and raised lines,” said Dhond.

The Rs 100 note has a triangle and four raised lines, Rs 500 note has a circle and five lines and the Rs 2,000 note has a rectangle and seven lines, he added.

The court noted that the problems raised in the petition are serious and asked the petitioner to file an affidavit giving further suggestions.