Banks have to pay fines if ATMs run out of cash

Reserve Bank of India has proposed penalties for banks and White Label ATM operators if their ATMs are found to be lying without replenishment for more than ten hours, starting October 1, 2021.

"A review of downtime of ATMs due to cash-outs was undertaken

and it was observed that ATM operations affected by cash-outs lead to non-availability of cash and cause avoidable inconvenience to the members of the public," RBI said in a statement.

The apex bank further stated, "Therefore, been decided that the banks/ White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) shall strengthen their systems/ mechanisms to monitor the availability of cash in ATMs and ensure timely replenishment to avoid cash-outs. Any non-compliance in this regard shall be viewed seriously and shall attract a monetary penalty."

“In the case of white label ATMs, the penalty would be charged to the bank which is meeting the cash requirement of that particular white label ATM. The bank, may, at its discretion, recover the penalty from the white label ATM operator", RBI said.

Cash-out at any ATM of more than ten hours in a month will attract a flat penalty of Rs 10,000 per ATM. In the case of White Label ATMs, the penalty would be charged to the bank which is meeting the cash requirement of that particular WLA. The new norms are effective from October 01, 2021.

RBI further said that banks shall submit a system-generated statement on the downtime of ATMs due to non- replenishment of cash to the 'Issue Department' of RBI under whose jurisdiction these ATMs are located.

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