₹500 Notes To Be Phased Out? No, False Claim Goes Viral

Claim

RBI has stopped all banks from dispensing ₹500 notes from ATMs with the goal to make sure 75% of all bank ATMs follow it by September 30, 2025, and then hit 90% compliance by March 31, 2026.

According to the claims, the ATMs will now only give ₹100 and ₹200 notes, which hints at a planned demonetisation of ₹500 notes. The archived version of the post can be seen here, which has clocked 631.7K views so far.

Fact

Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “RBI stops ₹500 notes”, which led us to multiple news reports from June 3, 2025, seen here and here, stating that the Press Information Bureau of India has refuted the claims that the Reserve Bank of India is going to discontinue the ₹500 notes by March 2026.

These reports directed us to PIB Fact Check’s post on X, dated June 3, 2025, debunking the viral claim and clarifying that the central bank has made no such announcement, while firmly stating that ₹500 notes have not been discontinued and remain legal tender.

Why The Confusion?

The viral speculation has been reportedly fuelled by a recent RBI circular, instructing banks and ATM operators to increase the availability of ₹100 and ₹200 notes. “The RBI in April 2025 asked banks to ensure that ATMs dispense ₹100 or ₹200 denomination notes to increase the availability of these currency notes to the public. Banks and White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) have to implement the direction in a phased manner,” read an Economic Times report, dated June 5, 2025.

We came across the Business Standard and The Hindu Businessline reports from April 28, 2025, on the RBI directing banks to ensure that ATMs dispense ₹100 or ₹200 denomination notes to enhance the availability of these currency notes to the public.

RBI’s press release, dated April 28, 2024, clearly stated that “As part of an endeavour towards enhancing public access to frequently used denominations of banknotes, it has been decided that all banks and White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) shall ensure that their ATMs dispense ₹100 and ₹200 denomination banknotes on a regular basis as per following milestones:

1. By September 30, 2025: 75% of all ATMs shall dispense either ₹100 or ₹200 denomination banknotes from at least one cassette.
2. By March 31, 2026: 90% of all ATMs shall dispense either ₹100 or ₹200 denomination banknotes from at least one cassette.”

Neither the press release nor the multiple news reports state that the ATMs will stop dispensing ₹500 denomination notes, further confirming the viral claim to be false.

Also Read: ‘National Public Holiday’ On June 6? No, Fake AI-Generated Reports Shared As Real News

Sources
RBI press release, April 28, 2025
PIB Fact Check post, X, June 3, 2025