Five months after demonetization which the government vowed would put an end to counterfeit currency, a man in Madhya Pradesh received 500 rupee notes without Mahatma Gandhi image on them.

The man hailing in Morena District, Madhya Pradesh received illegal tender when he withdrew money from an ATM. The surprising thing was he found no Mahatma Gandhi image on any of the notes he withdrew on Friday.

The victim is identified as Govardhan Sharma. He went to an SBI ATM and attempted to withdraw some money. He found the counterfeit notes without Gandhi images. Sharma immediately showed the notes to the security guard and then called up on the phone numbers available at the ATM.

Madhya Pradesh: Man receives Rs 500 notes from SBI ATM without Mahatma Gandhi’s image in Morena. (29/04) pic.twitter.com/JEDAacr9YE

— ANI (@ANI) April 30, 2017

Sharma said he was asked to wait and only RBI would be able to address the issue. The State Bank of India officials assured later that the notes are good but probably there was a printing mistake. However, they said that the notes would be replaced after being to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

This is not the first time such defective note have been reported in Madhya Pradesh. In February, an SBI ATM had dispensed new Rs 500 notes without any serial number. However, the bank told the complainants that it was not possible to exchange the notes immediately, and those facing the issue have to file a complaint with the bank.

Before that, some ATMs in Khargone district gave out 500-rupee notes which were blank on one side.  Another SBI ATM had dispensed notes with Children Bank of India printed on it instead of Reserve Bank of India and with Entertainment Bank of India in another instance.

On November 8, 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetization, he said it would root out black money from the system, put a lid on counterfeit notes that are used to fund terror activities, and later added ‘push to digital economy’ to the narrative.