RBI issues warning about Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 counterfeit notes

In a recent announcement, RBI has urged the public to examine currency notes of higher denomination before accepting them. This is a result of concerns regarding a surge in the circulation of fake Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

“It has come to our notice that unscrupulous elements are putting into circulation fake Indian currency notes of higher denominations in the course of normal transactions, taking advantage of the gullible and unsuspecting nature of some members of the public,” the central bank said. It added that people should subject these currency notes to careful scrutiny when they receive them in a transaction.

Currency notes of higher denomination have various security features to ensure that counterfeit notes are easy to spot. These features, as listed on the RBI website, include a Mahatma Gandhi watermark, a latent image of the note’s denomination value and optically variable ink. “Members of the public are requested to make it a habit of looking at the notes before accepting them in the usual course of daily transactions, and help arrest the counterfeiting of Indian bank notes,” the Reserve Bank stated.

Aside from issuing a statement addressed to the public, the RBI has also appealed to authorities, requesting their cooperation in efforts to check the circulation of counterfeit notes.