No refund for notes bearing religious or political slogans: Bangladesh Bank

Bangladesh Bank (BB) has introduced a note refund regulation under which notes bearing religiously provocative or political slogans or ideologies, or promotional writings for any individual or product, will not be refunded.

The Bangladesh Bank Note Refund Regulations, 2025 also stated that any claim involving notes that have been intentionally cut, torn, or perforated, or presented as part of a note, will be rejected.

The regulations, introduced on October 9, will be effective immediately.

If the officer concerned is not satisfied with the characteristics or authenticity of a damp note, the claim for such a note will be rejected, it added.

In the case of a single, continuous piece of a banknote, if more than 90 percent of the note is present, the full value of the note will be paid.

However, if less than 51 percent of a single, continuous piece of the note is present, the claim for that note will be rejected, as per the regulations.

If 51 percent to 75 percent of the note is present, 50 percent of the value of the note will be paid; and if 75 percent to 90 percent is present, 75 percent of the value will be paid, according to the regulations.

The BB regulations state that the claim value for burnt notes must be settled through a committee nominated by the bank's head office.

An officer of the rank of currency officer, executive director, or director shall serve as the head of the committee, and no one below the rank of deputy director may be a member, it added.

The unburnt portion must be sufficient to verify the main features and authenticity of the original note, and must constitute at least 51 percent of the note.

It added that in the case of burnt notes fragmented into multiple pieces, the serial numbers on both ends (where applicable) must remain intact, and the combined area of the fragments bearing the serial numbers must be at least 60 percent of the note.

The regulations also mention the security features of a genuine note, which include: paper quality of a specific standard; size and shape of the note's serial number; security thread; colour-shifting ink; intaglio printing; symbol for the visually impaired; watermark; latent image writing; microtext; and iridescent stripe.

The central bank repealed the Bangladesh Bank Note Refund Regulations, 2012 through the new regulation.