RBI decided to impose a limit of 3 free transactions per month from other bank’s ATM

RBI in August 2014 decided to impose a limit of 3 free transactions per month, if a customer withdraws from other bank’s Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

Besides, it also imposed a limit of 5 free transactions at home bank ATMs in six metropolitan cities.

The six metropolitan cities include Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad.

RBI also asked the banks to charge a fee of 20 rupees per transaction if a customer exceeds the free transaction limit.

The notification will come into effect from 1, November, 2014onwards.

However, RBI also made it clear that the said reduction will not apply to small/no frills/basic savings bank deposit account holders.

The Reserve Bank said the cap on the number of free ATM transactions have been imposed in view of the growing cost of ATM deployment and maintenance incurred by banks and also in view of rising interchange outgo due to free usages.

Banks have been advised to put in place suitable mechanism for cautioning/advising/alerting the customers about the number of free transactions already utilised during the month by the customer and the possibility that charges may be levied as per the bank’s policy on charges.

The central bank has asked lenders to ensure fair and transparent information to customers regarding the new charges with regard to ATM withdrawals beyond the stipulated cap.

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