RBI union raises concerns over shortage of small denomination notes, urges adequate supply

]Highlighting concerns over an acute shortage of small denomination currency notes in the country, the All India Reserve Bank Employees Association (AIRBEA) has urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure adequate supply of these notes. The RBI employees’ union noted that while there was no visible shortage of higher denomination currency notes of […]

Presently, banknotes in circulation comprise denominations of Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2,000.

]Highlighting concerns over an acute shortage of small denomination currency notes in the country, the All India Reserve Bank Employees Association (AIRBEA) has urged the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to ensure adequate supply of these notes.

The RBI employees’ union noted that while there was no visible shortage of higher denomination currency notes of Rs 100, Rs 200 and Rs 500, the small denomination notes are almost unavailable.

“Of late, parts of the country, nay the whole country, particularly semi-urban and rural areas are facing acute shortage of small denomination currency notes in particular, causing enormous problems in public life. ATMs dispense with higher denomination notes only, there is no provision for availability of small denomination notes,” AIRBEA’s General Secretary Samir Ghosh wrote in a recent letter to RBI Deputy Governor T Rabi Shankar, who is in charge of the Department of Currency Management.

Even commercial bank branches plead inability to supply small denomination note such as Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50 etc, which are needed for small transactions, as fares for auto, toto, rickshaws, purchase of groceries in kirana stores and so many other small transactions, which the common people need for their daily use, the union wrote in the letter.

The RBI, at times, considered replacing small denomination currency notes with metal coins, which are more durable than paper currency, but uses the country’s scarce metal resources that are also not available, it said.

“RBI must, therefore, circulate adequate quantity of small denomination currency notes through commercial bank counters as well as RBI counters,” the letter said.

Small denomination coins also should be circulated through various outlets including RBI’s and RBI offices should organise ‘coin-melas’ as used to be held earlier, not only in city areas but urban and rural areas too in consultation and coordination with rural level panchayats, co-operatives, regional rural banks and self-help groups, Ghosh urged the RBI.

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Currency in circulation includes banknotes, central bank digital currency (CBDC) and coins. Presently, banknotes in circulation comprise denominations of Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 500 and Rs 2,000. The RBI is no longer printing banknotes of denominations of Rs 2, Rs 5 and Rs 2,000. Coins in circulation comprise denominations of 50 paise and Rs 1, Rs 2, Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20.

During 2024-25, the value and volume of banknotes in circulation increased by 6 per cent and 5.6 per cent, respectively. In the previous year, the share of Rs 500 banknotes at 86 per cent, declined marginally in value terms. In volume terms, Rs 500 denomination at 40.9 per cent, constituted the highest share of the total banknotes in circulation, followed by Rs 10 denomination banknotes at 16.4 per cent, according to the RBI. The lower denomination banknotes, such as Rs 10, Rs 20 and Rs 50, together constituted 31.7 per cent of total banknotes in circulation by volume in 2024-25.

In the previous fiscal, the value and volume of coins in circulation increased by 9.6 per cent and 3.6 per cent, respectively. As on March 31, 2025, coins of Rs 1, Rs 2, and Rs 5 together constituted 81.6 per cent of the total volume of coins in circulation, while in value terms, these denominations accounted for 64.2 per cent.