This month, RBI launched an app to help visually-challenged people identify currency notes. We invited a law graduate to try it
Prathamesh Bendre
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kicked off the new year on a good note — pun intended. On January 1, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das, launched Mobile Aided Note Identifier (MANI), a mobile application to help the visually impaired (colour blind, partially sighted and blind) identify the denomination of Indian banknotes. The app, available free of charge on both Android and iOS platforms, is able to carry out the identification process in two modes: an audio notification in Hindi or English or via vibration which can come to the aid of those with hearing impairment, too. After installation, it doesn't require an active Internet connection to function, either. But the only disclaimer RBI gives is that MANI doesn't differentiate between genuine and counterfeit notes.
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As soon as he heard the central bank's announcement, Prathamesh Bendre, 25, a visually challenged city-based poet who has also recently completed his LLB from Government Law College, headed to Play Store to download MANI. As per the app's instructions, all one has to do is point the phone camera to the banknote. It then identifies the denomination of the Mahatma Gandhi series and the Mahatma Gandhi (new series) announced in 2017.
MANI claims to scan the denomination of banknotes facing front or reverse, and even if the note is folded
Currency confusion
Bendre operates his smartphone using a voice assistant or talkback feature. So, finding RBI's app proved to be a hurdle. "The application's name is in Devanagari so I was unable to find it in the store. Then, I asked a friend to send me a link to it on WhatsApp," he shares. The process of currency identification wasn't error-free either. Although MANI is able to scan notes correctly the first time, it fails to deliver the same accuracy when you repeatedly scan the same note. "Initially, a R1 note would be read as R500 but later it was identified as anything but R1," Bendre shares.
More vision needed
The speed of the app is commendable, especially when compared to a similar AI-based app called Kitna which Bendre has been acquainted with. Another advantage to MANI is the fact that it can scan a note irrespective of its note's position: front-facing, reverse or folded. "Kitna requires you to point the camera towards the denomination which isn't something that the visually-challenged can do," he highlights.
According to Bendre, the history tab that displays successful transactions doesn't have much utility
With an impressive interface, MANI needs to look into fixing its accuracy and also restructuring its features or explaining its significance. Bendre explains, "The voice command option is useless because it only directs you to the home screen of the app. Also, the history tab that displays a list of successful tasks undertaken and I don't understand its utility."
Log on to MANI on App Store or Play Store
An error pops up if the camera isn't facing a currency note
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