Brace Yourself: ATM Cash Withdrawals to Get Costlier! How Much Will You Pay?

ATM Cash Transaction: Digital transactions have increased rapidly in the country since demonetization, but cash is still needed for many tasks. If you also often withdraw cash from ATM, then this news is for you. Yes, ATM operators of the country are demanding an increase in the interchange fee charged on cash withdrawal. Operators have asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to agree on this.

Proposal to increase the fee to Rs 23

According to a news published in Economic Times, Confederation of ATM Industry (CATMI) says that to raise more funds for this business, the interchange fee should be increased to Rs 23. Stanley Johnson, Executive Director of AGS Transact Technologies, also said that the interchange fee was last increased two years ago. He said, ‘We are contacting RBI. CATMI has proposed to increase the fee to Rs 21, some other ATM manufacturers have suggested increasing it to Rs 23.’

Till now the fee is Rs 17.
AGS Transact Technologies also said that it took several years to increase the fee last time. But this time there is a consensus on it. It will not take much time to get approval for the fee increase. It is worth noting that in the year 2021, the interchange fee charged on ATM transactions was increased from Rs 15 to Rs 17. Let us tell you that this fee is paid by the bank that issues the card. This charge is received by the bank in whose ATM the card is used to withdraw cash. In the year 2021, the limit of fees charged from customers was increased from Rs 20 to Rs 21 per transaction.

ET’s report quoted another ATM manufacturer as saying that there has been a lot of lobbying to increase the interchange fee. According to the report, a proposal has been sent through NPCI and banks have also agreed to increase the fee. Currently, banks offer at least five free transactions every month from their savings account in six major cities – Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. In the rest of the cities, you can make three free transactions every month from ATMs.