Old Rs.500 notes issued under different RBI Governors can have the same serial number - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
September 25, 2022
A photo comparing two old 500-rupee currency notes with the same serial number but with two different former RBI Governors’ signatures is being shared on social media. This post claims it is an unusual thing to have the same serial number on two different banknotes issued during the periods of Y. V. Reddy and D. Subbarao as the governors of RBI. Alleging it was a scam under the UPA government, this post claims that former Finance Minister Chidambaram was arrested for knowing this secret. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Old 500-rupee currency notes having the same serial number but with the signatures of two different RBI governors indicates a scam by the UPA government.
Fact: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) while answering a FAQ stated that there is a possibility of two or more bank notes having the same serial number but clarified that those identical banknotes would either have a different Inset Letter or year of printing or signature of a different Governor of RBI, which could distinguish the features of old and new currency notes. Before the demonetisation in November 2016, RBI continued the legal tender of all banknotes in the denomination of Rs.500/- issued from the year 2000. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, we found that the photo was being circulated on social media at least since November 2016, after the demonetisation move by the BJP government. Several news websites published articles about these banknotes with the same serial number but of different RBI signatures but did not confirm whether these are real or counterfeit notes.
When we searched to check whether banknotes having the same serial number but with the signatures of two different RBI governors indicates a scam, we found that the RBI has issued a clarification regarding this issue while answering a Frequently Asked Question. While answering a question quoting, “Is it possible to have two or more banknotes with the same serial number?”, RBI said, “Yes, it is possible to have two or more banknotes with the same serial number, but they would either have a different Inset Letter or year of printing or signature of a different Governor of RBI. An Inset Letter is an alphabet printed on the Number Panel of the banknote. There can be notes without any inset letter also”. So, different RBI governors’ signatures on the same serial numbered banknotes itself is a distinguishing security feature to identify the old and new notes.
In 2009, while announcing the issue of new Rs. 500 denomination banknotes with `’E’ Inset Letter and bearing the signature of then RBI Governor Dr. D. Subbarao, RBI stated, “The Reserve Bank of India will shortly issue Rs.500/- denomination banknotes with `E’ inset letter in both numbering panels in Mahatma Gandhi Series – 2005 bearing the signature of Dr. D. Subbarao, Governor.  Except for the change in the inset letter, the design of these notes to be issued now is similar in all respects to the banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi Series – 2005, with additional/new security features issued on October 21, 2005.  All banknotes in the denomination of Rs.500/- in Mahatma Gandhi series issued by the Bank from the year 2000 will continue to be legal tender”. RBI in another press release issued in 2011 re-emphasised that all the Rs. 500/- denomination banknotes issued in the past will continue to be legal tender.
Former Finance Minister Chidambaram was arrested in 2019 related to the INX media case. In 2014, after Raghuram Rajan took over the charge as the Governor of RBI, Rs. 20, Rs. 50 and Rs. 500 denomination notes with the signature of former RBI Governor Dr. D. Subbarao surfaced in the market. Amid these reports of goof-up in the printing of notes, RBI issued a press note in 2014 stating that the new notes bearing the signature of former Governor D Subbarao are legal tender, and said the process of changing the signature is underway. In a report published by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in 2015, CAG stated that this signature printing mistake done by the Bank Note Press (BNP) in Dewas incurred an expenditure loss of Rs. 36.69 crores. Before the demonetisation in November 2016, of all Rs. 500-denomination notes issued from the year 2000 continued to be legal tender.
To sum it up, old Rs. 500  denomination banknotes issued under different RBI Governors can possibly have the same serial number. It doesn’t indicate a scam.