Petrol pump dealers in Bengaluru break heads to curb fake currency menace

BENGALURU: Fake currency menace is a routine affair in Bengaluru. Many petrol pump dealers in the city said that tackling the problem has become a herculean task for them. 

GV Ravindranath, president of Bengaluru Petrol Dealers’ Association, said, “Petrol pumps have become easy prey for people to dupe traders with fake currency notes. During the peak hours – 8 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 7 pm – petrol pumps get crowded and it becomes difficult for our employees to spot fake notes.

On an average, we receive about 10 to 15 fake notes of denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 every month, although the number has reduced drastically after demonetisation. Most of the times, our employees identify them and give it back to the customers, but during peak hours, it becomes a challenging task to spot them.”

Prakash Sathe, a petrol pump dealer on Old Madras Road, agreed. He said, “Last year, in one month, we received fake notes almost every day, mostly during the peak hours, because of which I incurred a loss of Rs 4,000. We then trained our employees how to identify counterfeit currency. They have become more vigilant now.”

He added, “One of the members of our association claimed that he incurred a loss of Rs 10,000 in one month last year.” He said dealers should encourage customers to switch to fleet cards. “It’s a viable solution for us and also becomes easy for the customers to track their fuel expenses every month.”

Somashekhar V K, Managing trustee of Grahak Shakti, a consumer organisation that participates in FICCI’s Committee Against Smuggling and Counterfeiting Activities Destroying Economy (CASCADE) said, “We have received many complaints relating to counterfeit currency in the past one year. At times, the consumers don’t surrender the notes, but recirculate it because they fear not getting indemnity.

The RBI should take consumer organisations into confidence and conduct awareness programmes at the grass root level. The government should encourage citizens to pay through digital mode.” Murlidharan Y G, who runs Consumer Rights Education and Awareness Trust (CREAT), said, “Consumers don’t report such incidents to police because they don’t get refund for it. RBI should bring a new policy wherein consumers will get some percentage of refund for surrendering fake notes.”

ACP Alok Kumar said the police has also received many complaints from various businessmen and traders in the city. However, he added that the incidents of fake currency notes have come down.

He said, “Whenever someone gets a fake note, they should not destroy it. They need to lodge a complaint with the jurisdictional police station and hand over the fake note. The police will then start the investigation. Any attempt to circulate the fake notes deliberately will attract fine or imprisonment up to seven years, as per IPC section 489.”

According to the NCRB data released on November 30, 2016, 11 per cent of the overall fake 2,000-rupee notes seized in the country were from Karnataka, predominantly in Bengaluru.