Hi,
Sorry for the late response. But for other members with the same problem, using a relative path is not a good idea.
$base_dir is not the full path but the path on your URL. You need to use _PS_IMG_DIR_.
Assign the variable on your module / controller
514 $this->smarty->smarty->assign(
515 'rm_img_dir',
516 _PS_IMG_DIR_
517 );
On your template, create the var with the fullpath
{assign var="icon_full_path" value="{$rm_img_dir}rm/c{$subcategory->id}.png"}
And use it on your template :
{if file_exists($icon_full_path)}...{/if}
Best regards,