DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A social media message is being shared on WhatsApp claiming that the old Rs. 100 note is being withdrawn by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) with effect from the next fiscal year 2024. The message also advised people to exchange the note immediately in view of this decision by the RBI. It said in Telugu, “Old Hundred Rupees Note is no longer valid. RBI has decided to withdraw it.” Further, it claimed that old Rs. 100 notes should be exchanged in banks before March 31, 2024. See the message in Telugu here:
The same message was shared way back in 2021 on Twitter in English as seen here:
Notice: RBI Will Ban These 3 Currency Notes After 1000-500..
( Here News Media shouldn’t Confuse,make ppl fear of “NoteBan”. Really what RBI will do is,just withdraw OLD Rs 100,10 & 5 Rs notes after March.But won’t demonitise them. New Series of 100,10,5 is already in circulation pic.twitter.com/UAol2fOZdr— prasad_perla (@prasad_perla) January 24, 2021
FACT CHECK
According to the post in Telugu, the claim is that the RBI has imposed a deadline to exchange the old 100-rupee banknote till March, 2024, declaring it invalid as legal tender after the deadline. The news clip, purportedly by Vijayavani News in Telugu shows an image of a person claiming it to be of B. Mahesh, assistant Chief Secretary of RBI.
When we searched RBI official website, there is no such move by the RBI to ban or make old Rs.100 currency note illegal after 31st March 2024. A similar false claim was made about Rs.500 currency note early this year which had been debunked by Digiteye. Secondly, there is no chief secretary of RBI but the designation remained the Governor of RBI and Assistant Governor or Deputy Governor. Secondly, the so-called B. Mahesh remains a concoted name that was used in all such false claims, with the soul aim of making people go panic over the ban of currency notes ever since the 2016 ban on old Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 notes. A similar move to withdraw Rs.2000 currency note this year has made the false claims for Rs.100 notes back in currency.
Thirdly, Vijayavani is a Kannada newspaper and not published in Telugu but the post has a news clipping showing that the story was sourced from Mangalore in Karnataka.
In 2018, the RBI released a new Rs.100-note in Lavender colour, bearing the signature of then RBI Governor Dr. Urjit R. Patel. The press release clearly stated that all previously issued 100-rupee banknotes by the Reserve Bank will remain valid legal tender. There is no move by RBI to ban them before March 2024 as claimed. Hence, the claim is false.
Claim: Old Rs.100-note to be banned from March 31, 2024.
Conclusion: No, there is no move by RBI to ban old Rs.100-note, so the claim is false.
Rating: Misleading – 
