Plea before Delhi HC for Rs 50 coins for visually impaired

A plea has been filed in the Delhi High Court to direct the government and the central bank to issue Rs 50 coins for the visually impaired. The bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh have listed this petition for hearing on February 25, 2022.

Advocate Rohit Dandriyal had filed this application in a pending petition for authorities to withdraw the new currency notes of Rs 50 as the visually impaired people were finding it difficult to use them due to their size and tactile marks.

The application stated that a study was undertaken by the petitioners to determine the distress and inequalities faced by the visually impaired citizens due to the design of the currency notes. The design makes it difficult to distinguish between various denominations of the currency.

“Respondents have enacted a number of schemes for the benefit of the visually challenged and have launched coins of the denomination of Rs 1, 2, 5, 10 and 20. While the currency notes of the denomination of Rs 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 100, 200, 500 and 2000 are visually impaired friendly, the same is not applicable for the Rs 50 note, which is indistinguishable from the Rs 100 and 500 notes, and there is no coin available for the same,” it said.

The high court had earlier asked the government and the RBI to examine the new currency notes and coins, observing that the visually impaired were facing hardship in identifying and using them. It asked the government and the RBI to reconsider the issue and if possible examine the new currency notes of Rs 200 and Rs 50 denominations as the visually impaired people were finding it difficult to use them due to their size and their tactile marks.

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Advocate Dandriyal said the special feature, as per the RBI, has been introduced on the left of the watermark window on all notes, except the Rs 10 currency. “This feature is in different shapes for various denominations. For example, a vertical rectangle denotes a Rs 20 note, a square means Rs 50 (in older notes), triangle and circle for Rs 100 and a diamond denoted the Rs 1,000 currency which is not a legal tender now,” the petition said.

As such, the visually impaired people were facing hardship in identification, usage and transaction of the new currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500, Rs 200 and Rs 50 denominations.