Banks May Be Penalised if ATM is Empty

After the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a fine of Rs 10,000 for each instance of an ATM being out of cash, there are mixed reactions from the netizens. ATM operators and cash-in-transit companies are worrying that the banks may put pressure on them to bear the penalty.

The RBI had released a circular to the banks saying that they should monitor the availability of cash in ATMs and ensure that there are no cash-outs. The circular added that the banks would be fined Rs 10,000 if there is ‘no cash’ at any ATM for more than 10 hours in a month.

Out of the 2,13,766 ATMs in the country, most of them are managed by MSPs who appoint cash-in-transit companies to replenish the currency notes in the machines. Now, after the circular MSPs say that the penalty is not well thought out because banks outsource most of the work and treat the regulations as something to be passed through to them.

Experts from MSPs opines that the root causes of ATMs running dry, such as sub-optimal cash forecasting and delays in availability of ATM-fit currency rather than imposing fines. But according to the banks, it is very difficult to implement all these norms under present cost structures.