Fact Check | Are Rs 500 notes with green strip near Gandhi's picture fake? Check here

PIB Fact Check, a fact-checking unit of the Press Information Bureau, has recently alerted people against the fake news about Rs 500 note circulating on social media. It said that all notes having a green strip near Gandhiji or the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) signature are valid. A message circulating on social media has been claiming that those Rs 500 currency notes are fake that have green strips near Gandhiji instead of the RBI Governor’s signature.

However, it is a fake claim as the central bank says that both currency notes are valid.

PIB also attached a PDF file provided by the RBI that helps people to differentiate between real and counterfeit currency.

The Rs 500 denomination banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) Series bear the governor's signature, RBI. The note has a 'Red Fort' motif on the reverse, depicting the country's cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is stone grey. The note has other designs and geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both are obverse and reverse, the document read.

See-through register with the denominational numeral 500

Latent image with denominational numeral 500

Denominational numeral ५00 in Devnagri.

Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre

Micro letters ‘भारत’ and ‘India’

Colour shift windowed security threat with inscriptions ‘भारत’ and ‘RBI’. The Colour of the thread changes from green to blue when the note is tilted

Guarantee clause, Governor’s signature with promise Clause and RBI emblem towards the right of Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait

Mahatma Gandhi’s portrait and electrotype (500) watermarks

Number panel with numerals in ascending font on the top left side and bottom right side

Denominational numeral with Rupee Symbol in (₹500) in colour changing ink (green to blue) on the bottom right

Ashoka pillar emblem on the right

Intaglio or raised printing of Mahatma Gandhi portrait (4) Ashika pillar emblem (11) circular identification mark with micro text Rs 500 on the right, five angular bleed lines of both the left and right sides.

Year of printing of the note on the left

Swachh Bharat logo with slogan

Language panel

Motif of Red Fort

Denominational numeral ५00 in Devnagri.