Fed up with ‘no cash’ in nearest ATMs? Banks to pay fines from October

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated all the banks to submit system-generated statements on the downtime of ATMs due to the non-replenishment of cash.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed all banks and White Label ATM operators to ensure timely replenishment of ATMs to avoid cash-outs or else face penalties. Asking chairmen, managing directors and CEOs of all banks to strengthen their systems to monitor the availability of cash in ATMs, RBI said in a letter that ATM operations affected by cash-outs lead to non-availability of cash and cause avoidable inconvenience to the public.

The scheme will come into effect starting October 1, 2021, under which banks will attract a penalty of ₹10,000. (Indranil Bhoumik/Mint/ Representational Image)

“It has, therefore, been decided that the banks/ White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) shall strengthen their systems/ mechanisms to monitor availability of cash in ATMs and ensure timely replenishment to avoid cash-outs,” the chief general manager-in-charge wrote.

The letter further stated that “[a]ny non-compliance in this regard shall be viewed seriously and shall attract monetary penalty as stipulated in the “Scheme of Penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs” in the Annex.”

The scheme will come into effect starting October 1, 2021, under which banks will attract a penalty of ₹10,000 for the non-availability of cash in any ATM for more than 10 hours in a month. For similar cash-out situations at White Label ATMs (WLA), banks meeting the cash requirement of the particular WLA would be fined. The bank, however, at its discretion, may recover the penalty from the WLA operator, said the RBI.

The central bank has mandated all the banks to submit system-generated statements on the downtime of ATMs due to non-replenishment of cash to the Issue Department of RBI under whose jurisdiction these ATMs are located. The banks have to submit the statements within five days of the following month.

In the case of WLAOs, the banks which are meeting their cash requirement shall furnish a separate statement on behalf of WLAOs on cash-out of such ATMs due to non-replenishment of cash, as per the scheme formulated to ensure that sufficient cash is available to the public through ATMs.