The number of counterfeit Rs 500 notes detected by the government rose by nearly 317% between 2018-’19 and 2022-’23, data presented to the Lok Sabha on Monday revealed.

A total of 21,865 million counterfeit notes of the denomination of Rs 500 were detected in 2018-’19, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told Parliament. In comparison, 91,110 million such notes were detected in 2022-’23 – an increase of 316.6%.

However, in 2023-’24, the number of fake Rs 500 notes declined to 85,711, the Centre said.

The finance ministry released the figures in response to a question by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP TM Selvaganapathi.

The number of counterfeit Rs 2,000 notes declined from 21,847 million in 2018-’19 to 9,806 million in 2022-’23, before rising sharply to 26,035 million in 2023-’24.

“As per RBI, on account of the ongoing withdrawal of Rs 2000 banknotes from circulation and processing of these notes in large numbers, counterfeit notes detected in this denomination increased during the year 2023-24,” the minister of state for finance told the Lok Sabha.

However, the total number of fake currency notes across denominations declined by 29.8% from 3,17,384 notes in 2018-’19 to 2,22,639 in 2023-’24, the government said, citing the Reserve Bank of India.

In May, the Reserve Bank of India said that the share of Rs 500 notes in overall currency had increased to 86.5% in March 2024, as compared to 77.1% a year ago. The central bank said that this was because of the withdrawal of Rs 2,000 notes from circulation, which was announced in May last year.