RBI to issue new Rs 100 notes; Will old Rs 100 notes get banned?

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: With the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s decision to issue new notes of Rs 100 denominations, speculations about the fate of the older notes have already started. The questions regarding the legality of older notes of Rs 100 denominations are also doing rounds.

This new denomination has motif of “RANI KI VAV” of Gujarat on the reverse, depicting the country’s cultural heritage. The base colour of the note is Lavender.

The note has other designs, geometric patterns aligning with the overall colour scheme, both at the obverse and reverse. Dimension of the banknote will be 66 mm × 142 mm, said the RBI in a statement.

As is normal, when a new design of banknote is introduced, printing and supply of these notes for distribution to public through the banking channel will gradually increase.

Obverse (Front)

1. See through register with denominational numeral 100

2. Latent image with denominational numeral 100

3. Denominational numeral १०० in Devnagari

4. Portrait of Mahatma Gandhi at the centre

5. Micro letters ‘RBI’, ‘भारत’, ‘India’ and ‘100’

6. Windowed security thread with inscriptions ‘भारत’ and RBI with colour shift; Colour of the thread changes from green to blue when the note is tilted

7. Guarantee Clause, Governor’s signature with Promise Clause and RBI emblem towards right of Mahatma Gandhi portrait

8. Ashoka Pillar emblem on the right

9. Mahatma Gandhi portrait and electrotype (100) watermarks

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

11. For visually impaired intaglio or raised printing of Mahatma Gandhi portrait, Ashoka Pillar emblem, raised triangular identification mark with micro-text 100, four angular bleed lines both on the right and left sides

Reverse (Back)

12. Year of printing of the note on the left

13. Swachh Bharat logo with slogan

14. Language panel

15. Motif of RANI KI VAV

16. Denominational numeral १०० in Devnagari

In the official statement, RBI also informed that all the banknotes in the denomination of ₹ 100/- issued by the Reserve Bank in the earlier series will continue to be legal tender.