Both the variants of Rs. 500 notes are valid and acceptable. It’s just a printing defect

A post is being shared on Facebook by many users claiming that any Rs. 500 note with green security thread closer to Mahatma Gandhi picture is a fake note. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.

Claim: The Rs.500 note with green security thread closer to Mahatma Gandhi picture is a fake note. Accept only the note where the green security thread is near to RBI Governor’s signature.   

Fact: Both the variants of Rs. 500 notes shown in the image are acceptable. RBI Spokesperson clarified that the variation in the notes is due to defect in printing and people can freely accept both variants. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.

When searched for the ‘Rs.500 fake note’ on Google, news articles published back in 2016 on this issue can be found in the search results. According to the Business Insider article, RBI Spokesperson Alpana Killawala clarified, “It is likely that notes with printing defect has got released due to the current rush. However, people can freely accept such a note in transaction or return it to RBI.” So, there is no truth in the claim that the note with green security thread closer to Gandhi is fake.

Finally, both the variants of Rs. 500 note are valid and acceptable. It’s just a printing defect.