Patna, April 8 Bihar Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit on Wednesday directed officials to ensure that banknote-sorting machines are installed at all bank branches near the India-Nepal border of the state to curb the circulation of counterfeit currency.
He also called for enhanced surveillance in the border areas and the establishment of more currency exchange centres for the people, according to a statement from the Bihar finance department.
Addressing the 40th meeting of the State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC) in Patna, the chief secretary stressed the need for greater transparency in the functioning of cooperative banks and directed officials to hold periodic review meetings to improve their operations.
All bank branches near the India-Nepal border must install note-sorting machines to stem the circulation of counterfeit currency, Amrit said.
He directed the Economic Offences Unit of the Bihar Police to take strict action against violations of the Banning of Unregulated Deposit Schemes (BUDS) Act 2019, and the Bihar Protection of Interests of Depositors (BPID) Act 2002 -- both aimed at protecting investors from fraudulent financial schemes.
According to the statement, RBI Regional Director Sujit Kumar Arvind said during the meeting that legitimate bank calls will now originate from numbers starting with '1600', and that bank website links must end with '.in' to help people distinguish genuine platforms from fraudulent ones.
The Finance Department and RBI are jointly running awareness campaigns to alert citizens about financial fraud, it added.
The finance department's Additional Chief Secretary Anand Kishor and Special Secretary Mukesh Kumar, along with senior officials from various departments, were present during the meeting.