RBI keeps the daily limit on cash withdrawal unchanged

The Dollar Business Bureau

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stated on Sunday that till any further notification, the banks will have to continue with the withdrawal limits on automated teller machines (ATMs).

According to the regulator, the step has been taken after taking the review of the way customers have been using to withdraw cash from their bank accounts.

As per the ceiling imposed by RBI, customers who go to recalibrated ATMs for dispensing the new Rs.2,000 notes will have a limit of withdrawing up to 2,500 a day. The limit will continue to be Rs.2,000 a day on ATMs which are still to be recalibrated for dispensing the new currency notes of 500 and 2000, the central bank said in a notification on its website.

“Banks may continue to dispense Rs.50 and Rs.100 banknotes through the non-recalibrated ATMs until they are re-calibrated,” it said.

The new banknotes of Rs.500 and Rs.2,000 have different dimensions compared to the old currency notes, which have been legal tender for public transactions since November 8. Therefore, there is a need for physically recalibrating 2.2 lakh ATMs across the country, by the manufacturers.

While RBI has said that it is keeping a close watch on the ‘substantial progress’ in the recalibration process of ATMs, the requirement to continue to keep the limit on withdrawals per day might point towards the fact that a large number of ATM machines are not equipped to dispense the new currency notes.

In its notification on Sunday, the central bank was silent on the limit to withdraw Rs.24,000 per week, which it had earlier decreed that customers could withdraw from banks using cheque books or other instruments.