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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The Delhi High Court Wednesday asked the Reserve Bank of India and the central government to address the difficulties faced by vulnerable citizens such as the specially abled and the visually impaired before printing and issuing new currency notes. It advised them to take into account workable suggestions made in this regard by a court-appointed committee. It said the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, was promulgated precisely to alleviate the concerns of some of the country's most vulnerable citizens.

 

On aligning the INR 50 currency note with the need for identification by specially abled or visually impaired persons, the court said it had perused the reply and action-taken report submitted by the RBI. It noted that the RBI had given extensive details as to the benchmarks already available in the prevalent currency notes, including INR 50, for identification by the specially abled and the visually impaired.

 

"Given the fact that printing of new currency notes after alignment with the suggestions of the committee may entail huge costs running into thousands of crores and the recall and destruction of old/prevalent currency would itself entail huge costs and time, we can only observe that the RBI and the Government of India shall keep in mind and take into consideration the suggestions of the high-powered committee as and when (they) decide to print fresh currency," the court said.

 

Having perused the report of the high-powered committee and the various action-taken reports submitted by the RBI, the court observed that the concerns of the specially abled and the visually impaired relating to digital accessibility had been addressed to a large extent and appeared to have been implemented by some banks. It directed the RBI to ensure that the committee's suggestions as well as the central bank's own directions issued to various banks are "scrupulously implemented". The RBI must obtain half-yearly reports from banks on the progress made by them till the goal of final implementation is reached, the court added.

 

It observed that the issue of introducing a digital currency or issuance of specially designed notes for the benefit of persons with disabilities falls squarely within the realm of policy-making. Such matters involve technical and financial considerations, which is the domain of the government and the RBI, the court said. Therefore, it may not be possible to issue any direction in the nature of a mandamus, having regard to the above observations in respect of printing of fresh currency notes in the manner sought by the petitioners, the court added. This observation came on the committee's recommendation that the accessibility of digital currency for persons with disabilities be ensured.

 

The court was hearing petitions seeking directions to the government and the RBI to modify all legal tender, notes as well as coins, currently in circulation to ensure they are easily identifiable and differentiable by the visually impaired. The petitions also sought a direction to the government and the central bank to lay down standards for design of bank notes and coins and make all forms of physical currency and digital means of transactions accessible to the visually impaired in addition to providing technological solutions viable for the visually impaired within six months.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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