Update: This report was based on messages circulating on WhatsApp and other media reports. The RBI has now confirmed that no tracking technology has been used in the notes.


The Modi government has banned the Rs.500 and Rs.1000 denomination currency notes with immediate effect starting midnight of November 8.

The move took everyone in India, expect those in the know, by surprise. But it was necessary to keep it a secret to conduct what social media is calling a ‘surgical strike’ on those who hold black money or deal in fake currency.

While the RBI will soon be issuing new Rs.500 notes, the government has completely done away with the Rs.1000 notes.

In Pics: New Rs 500 note that will be issued pic.twitter.com/N51HDChDs3 — ANI (@ANI_news) November 8, 2016

For the first time ever, the RBI will be issuing notes of denomination Rs.2000, which will be the highest legal tender in the country.


And this is how the new Rs.2000 note looks like:

In Pics: New Rs 2000 Note that will be issued pic.twitter.com/4NXhNOpxxA — ANI (@ANI_news) November 8, 2016

But mere introduction of the Rs.2000 note is not the news. The news is the technology involved in making the note black money proof.

The Rs.2000 currency has state of the art indigenous nano technology to prevent black money use features that make it easier for visually challenged people to identify.

features that make it easier for visually challenged people to identify. Changes include positioning of Mahatma Gandhi’s image, the thread, the font size of the currency note’s serial number and key design elements that would dissuade makers of fake currency.

Reports that the currency has been embedded with an NGC (Nano GPS Chip), which functions without any power source, started doing the rounds. The NGC is like a tracker that is connected to a satellite which can detect its exact location. But some reports emerging on Wednesday suggest that no such thing has been done.

The RBI makes no mention of such a tracker in a tweet it posted.

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RBI issues ₹2000 note in new series pic.twitter.com/7Ob2j1t6Ab — ReserveBankOfIndia (@RBI) 8 November 2016

In his press interaction, Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa, too, made no mention of any tracker, but he said that the security features of the note have been improved.

New high-security #Rs500 and #Rs2000 #CurrencyNotes to be available in #ATMs from Nov 11, says Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa. — Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) 9 November 2016

But what if there is a tracker and the RBI is not talking about it?

A tracker to detect paper currency is not a new thing and is perhaps the best to have happened.

Since every note can be tracked, the satellite will be able to detect if there is an unusually high concentration of notes at a specific place.

If the number of notes is unusually high and the place of location is not any bank or other financial institution, it hints at the possibility of black money being hoarded.

The appropriate authorities will then take action based on the data gathered from the satellite.

Its a brilliant strategy to demonetise currency notes n replace with chip based smart currency tht can be tracked @narendramodi @arunjaitley — Kiran Mazumdar Shaw (@kiranshaw) 8 November 2016



Anyway, the government’s move will certainly ensure that the black money hoarders bid goodbye to their stash and those making fake currency will have a hard (perhaps impossible?) time replicating the same.


Update: This story has been updated with the latest information.