On 17^th June, Free Press Journal published an explosive report claiming that Rs 500 banknotes worth as much as 88,032.50 crore were missing. Based on RTI replies on data submitted by banknote printing presses on notes sent and RBI data on notes received, it claimed that there was a huge mismatch of 1760.65 million pieces of the 500 notes for the year 2016-17. The claim was subsequently published by almost all other media houses citing the FPJ report and the RTI queries.

The Reserve Bank of India has already dismissed the claim. Now, based on the relevant documents based on which the claim was made by the RTI activist and FPJ, OpIndia can confirm that there are no missing 500 notes. Several crucial details, some of which are mentioned in the documents obtained by the RTI queries and cited in the report itself, were ignored, which led to the wrong calculation of data, leading to the assumption that notes were missing.

In the clarification issued late on the night on the same day when the FPJ report was published, RBI affirmed that all banknotes supplied from the printing presses are accounted for, and the report was based on an erroneous interpretation of information obtained under RTI. The central bank added that robust systems are in place for the reconciliation of banknotes printed at the presses and supplied to RBI which include protocols to monitor the production, storage and distribution of banknotes.

What the report claimed

The report is based on the RBI annual...

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