Withdrawing Cash To Now Become Twice As Difficult? RBI’s New Norms Could Force Shutdown Of 50 Per Cent ATMs

RBI revised the security norms vying to provide a better experience for customers and the revision includes hardware and software upgrades, mandates on cash management standards, the cassette-swap method of loading cash and a lower bank interchange fee of Rs 15.

The new compliance costs could force the shutdown of one lakh off-site ATM’s and over 15,000 white-label ATM’s which amounts to 50 per cent of the active 2,38,000 ATM’s, forewarns Confederation of ATM Industry (CATMi), as reported by Business Standard.

It is said that non-urban ATM’s are the ones likely to be closed down which will affect the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), in which beneficiaries withdraw amount credited by government mainly from ATM’s.

Managing director (retail & digital banking) SBI PK Gupta said, “We have two types of ATM’s — one being our machines, which we will be upgrading, and the second type, which belongs to vendors. The bank is talking to vendors and trying to find a solution.” Banks and vendors are pointing at each other as to who will bear the cost of upgrading, and both are looking for a regulatory intervention to solve the issue.

Both parties state that exponential increase in the number of banks and debit cards did not translate into the number of ATM’s post-demonetisation. In fact, the number of ATM’s have gone down by 1,156 as compared to last year.