Their bosses are asking them to shell out cash for accepting counterfeit currency, but the labour department says they can't be penalised
Their bosses are asking them to shell out cash for accepting counterfeit currency, but the labour department says they can't be penalised
Railway ticket counter employees are outraged their bosses are demanding that they pay up for fake currency notes passed off by customers.
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Employees bearing the brunt of this order are enquiry-cum-reservation clerks, known in railway parlance as ECRCs, but more senior officers are not exempted from it.
Paid up but upset
Many have paid up, but some are protesting. "Why should I pay for someone else's mistakes?" asked an employee. "And where's the rule that says I pay?"
Railway bosses have already collected Rs 20,000 from their staff.
Anwar Hussain said, "Reservation clerks have made the mistake, so they have to pay for it, and all of us have to make up for the loss."
Clerks will learn be careful once they understand mistakes will pinch their wallet, he argued.
A labour official who preferred not to be named said, "No one has the right to issue a circular like this. They have to conduct an internal inquiry and then decide who is responsible."
He said the deparment ought to have written to the central government. "If an employee pays to compensate the shortage, it is an admission of guilt. This is totally wrong."
He suggested staff approach their union. Booking clerks are trained every year by Reserve Bank staff on how to spot fake notes.
"Our staff can detect fake notes just by touching," Hussain said. "But we have also installed ultraviolet fake note detection machines at some counters."
Booking clerks get three minutes to transact business with each customer and are under pressure. Hussain says the counters now have a code system to help identify where the fake currency crept in.
Tell the cops
Deputy chief labour commissioner George M Kadavan said, "First thing is, this should be brought to the notice of the police. If the railway bosses are forcing their staff to pay, they can complain to the assistant labour commissioner."
He said staff were free to refuse to pay the amount.
How to detect fake notes
>>Use an ultraviolet lamp: fluorescent lines and dots glow in genuine notes.
>>Check quality of paper.
>>Check the silver bromide thread for 'Bharat RBI'; in fakes you see just a line, and the words are misty.
>>Watermarks of Gandhi and the Ashoka chakra are very clear in original notes but smudged in fakes.
>>The font size used for numbers is usually slightly smaller in fake notes than in genuine ones.
>>Original notes have a dot embossed on the left, which can be felt. This is meant to help blind people identity the denomination, but it can help everyone detect fakes.
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