Fact check: Is your Rs 500 note with green strip close to Mahatma Gandhi's photo fake?

New Delhi, May 12: Recently, a video has been going viral on social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter which claimed that banknotes of Rs 500 with the green strip close to Mahatma Gandhi's portrait are fake. It advised people to only accept notes with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)-printed security thread away from Gandhi's picture.

Are such notes fake?

Amidst the rumours, the government's fact-checking body, PIB posted a video categorically explaining that both the types of Rs 500 notes, with the green strip either near the RBI governor's signature or the picture of Mahatma Gandhi, are both correct currency notes.

PIB asserted that there is no difference in the value that both the notes carried and there was no deliberate attempt by the government at making them appear different visually.

Therefore, traders and consumers are both advised to keep PIB's fact check information in mind while proceeding with transactions involving Rs 500 notes.

The tweet also provided a link to a document that provides further details on the various facets of the ₹ 500 note.

एक मैसेज में यह दावा किया जा रहा है कि ₹500 का वह नोट नकली है जिसमें हरी पट्टी आरबीआई गवर्नर के सिग्नेचर के पास ना होकर गांधीजी की तस्वीर के पास होती है।#PIBFactCheck

➡️यह दावा #फ़र्ज़ी है।
➡️@RBI के अनुसार दोनों ही तरह के नोट मान्य होते हैं।

🔗https://t.co/DuRgmRJxiN pic.twitter.com/AEGQfCM8kZ

— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 11, 2022

In a document attached in the tweet, PIB said, "The new ₹ 500 notes in the Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series are different from the present series in colour, size, theme, location of security features and design elements. The size of the new note is 66mm x 150mm. The colour of the notes is stone grey and the predominant new theme is the Indian heritage site - Red Fort."

While this claim has turned out to be false, it is important that people stay vigilant against similar rumours.