Rs 500 notes with star symbol fake? Here’s the truth and what RBI says

In this digital age, information spreads quick at a much faster rate than it used to be several years back. Hence, the government of India has been trying to create awareness so that people do not fall prey to any kind of misinformation.

Recently, a message claiming that Rs 500 note with star symbol is fake was found doing the rounds on social media. However, PIBFact check found that, “The message deeming such notes as fake is false.”

The Star marked(*) Rs 500 banknotes have been in circulation since December 2016.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) head of the issue of the Rs 500 denomination banknotes in Mahatma Gandhi (New) series with the inset letter ‘E’ in both the number panels had clearly stated that some of the captioned banknotes will have an additional character ‘*’ (star) in the number panel in the space between the prefix and the number.

‘Star’ banknotes in the denomination of Rs 10, 20, 50 and 100 are already in circulation in the country. In 2006, the RBI had announced for the introduction of star series bank notes. It was done for replacement of the defectively printed banknotes. The Star series notes look exactly like the existing notes of Rs.10, Rs.20 and Rs.50 in the Mahatma Gandhi series but have an additional character viz. a *(star) in the number panel.

Some fresh banknote packets issued by the Bank may contain some notes having a *(star) in the number panel in the space between the prefix and the number.