RBI launches mobile app MANI for visually challenged to identify currency notes

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday launched a mobile app to help visually-impaired people to identify the denomination of currency notes.

Now, the visually challenged people can identify the denomination of a currency note by using the mobile app, the RBI said. The application also works offline once installed, the central bank added.

Users can freely download the app, called 'MANI' (Mobile Aided Note Identifier), from Android Playstore or iOS App Store. The application can scan the currency notes using the camera of the mobile phone. It also gives audio output in Hindi and English.

The central bank has introduced several currency notes, under 'Mahatma Gandhi Series', with significant changes in the sizes and designs after the demonetization in November 2016. Under the new series, banknotes of ₹10, ₹20, ₹50, ₹100, ₹200, ₹500 and ₹2,000 have been released in the past couple of years. However, there were reports of problems faced by visually-challenged people in identifying these new currency notes.

The RBI also said the app does not authenticate a note as either genuine or counterfeit.