Just as PM Modi was making the announcement to scrap the present Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes in an attempt to render high-value notes as black money useless, WhatsApp warriors got on to their jobs.
Within a few minutes, a rather fantastical explainer on the new Rs. 2000 notes was being circulated.
Here is a part of it (the full text is at the bottom)
The Rs 2000 currency is designed keeping in mind to eradicate the black money issues using state of the art indigenous nano technology, every Rs. 2000 currency note is embedded with a NGC (Nano GPS Chip)
The unique feature of the NGC is it dosent need any power source. It only acts as a signal reflector. When a Satellite sends a signal requesting location the NGC reflects back the signal from the location, giving precise location coordinates, and the serial number of the currency back to the satellite, this way every NGC embedded currency can be easily tracked & located even if it is kept 120 meters below ground level. The NGC cant be tampered with or removed without damaging the currency note
This was being replicated on social media too, with several tweets and FB posts referring to ‘special chips’ or ‘tracking systems’ in them.
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) November 8, 2016
And, there have been media reports on that too.
Here is a story by Zee,
And Times of India,
In fact, even experts we spoke to mentioned the possibility of this chip.
When asked how introducing a Rs. 2000 note would restrict the flow of black money, Chennai-based Chartered Accountant MR Venkatesh and IIM-B Professor R Vaidyanathan told us that they have heard of a tracking chip being embedded in the notes. The reason why there is so much emphasis on such a ‘tracking system’ is that without it, as Prof. Vaidyanathan conceded, the move to introduce Rs. 2000 note would be a huge blunder.
But here’s the thing, the entire thing might be untrue. There is no official statement which mentions it.
None of the official statements - the PM’s speech, the RBI’s press release or the Finance Ministry’s press release - talk about it. An RBI official told The Hindu that the only features the new currency will have has been put out on the public domain by the RBI, and that does not mention any chip.
While no mention was made of the chip, Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said that new "high-security" ₹500 and ₹2000 currency notes would be available in ATMs from November 11.
The RBI’s chart which explains the new currency also does not mention any chip or GPS tracking in it.
RBI issues ₹2000 note in new series pic.twitter.com/7Ob2j1t6Ab
— ReserveBankOfIndia (@RBI) November 8, 2016
Many, including experts, suggest that the government will not be talking about the chip openly for “obvious reasons” –what’s the point if people get to know about it, they ask. That reason doesn’t cut much ice with us either. Once the note is in circulation, we will get to know anyway. Besides, the cost of producing such notes could be really high, landing a huge financial burden on the state’s coffers.
Many state that in the likelihood that the ‘chip’ tech is just a rumour, Modi’s ‘historic’ move could be a rather tame one, because the new Rs 2000 notes will continue to fuel the black economy.
Meanwhile, people online were having some fun with it, with one Redditor claiming he was the one who wrote the WhatsApp forward. Well, what’s a news cycle without some rumours?
Full Text of WhatsApp forward:
RBI to issue ₹2000 Rupees Notes coming February 2017
India is all set to add one more denomination to its currencies shortly. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will be issuing Rs 2,000 currency notes, the highest to come into circulation, even as some experts feel7 high-value denominations should be discontinued to curb black money.
The Rs 2000 currency is designed keeping in mind to eradicate the black money issues using state of the art indigenous nano technology, every Rs. 2000 currency note is embedded with a NGC (Nano GPS Chip)
How the embeded NGC Technology Works?
The unique feature of the NGC is it dosent need any power source. It only acts as a signal reflector. When a Satellite sends a signal requesting location the NGC reflects back the signal from the location, giving precise location coordinates, and the serial number of the currency back to the satellite, this way every NGC embedded currency can be easily tracked & located even if it is kept 120 meters below ground level. The NGC cant be tampered with or removed without damaging the currency note
How will this help eradicate black money menace?
Since every NGC embeded currency can be tracked. The satellite can identify the exact amount of money stored at a certain location. If a relatively high concentration of currency is found a certain location for a longer period of time at suspicious locations other than banks & other financial institutions. The information will be passed on to the Income Tax Department for further investigation
Just a beginning of the end of black money in India