On June 10, 2021, the Reserve Bank of India has issued a notification for the usage of automated teller machines/ cash recycler machines and the review of interchange machine and customer charges given the increasing cost of ATM deployment and expenses towards ATM maintenance incurred by banks / white label ATM operators:
- Allow increase in interchange fee per transaction from ₹15 to ₹17 for financial transactions and from ₹5 to ₹6 for non-financial transactions in all centres. This shall be effective from August 01, 2021.
- Customers are eligible for five free transactions (inclusive of financial and nonfinancial transactions) every month from their own bank ATMs. They are also eligible for free transactions (inclusive of financial and non-financial transactions) from other bank ATMs viz. three transactions in metro centres and five transactions in non-metro centres. Beyond the free transactions, the ceiling / cap on customer charges is ₹20 per transaction.
- To compensate the banks for the higher interchange fee and given the general escalation in costs, they are allowed to increase the customer charges to ₹21 per transaction. This increase shall be effective from January 1, 2022.
- Applicable taxes, if any, shall be additionally payable.
- These instructions shall also apply, mutatis mutandis, to transactions done at Cash Recycler Machines (other than for cash deposit transactions).