Hindi Ke Achhe Din: ATMs To Generate Receipts In Hindi

ATMs in Hindi-speaking states will now generate receipts in Hindi, along with English, as the Home Ministry has asked the Reserve Bank of India to direct banks to procure only those ATMs that can print receipts in Hindi.

The ministry has also instructed two major foreign suppliers of ATMs to upgrade the software in the existing ATMs to ensure printouts in Hindi.

The Department of Financial Services has written to the Home Ministry, saying the matter is under consideration. "We will be perusing this matter... the issue is that the printout of the receipt (from the ATM) should come in the language in which the transaction is being made," a Home Ministry spokesperson said.

At present, only ATMs procured by the Union Bank of India from Diebold firm have the facility to print in Hindi.

The ministry says such a situation runs foul of the government's official language policy. "The main reason of this problem is non-inclusion of such condition of printing in Hindi and regional languages while floating the tenders for procurement of ATMs by banks. As per the official language policy of the Union, the banks are required to procure only that equipment which has the facility of working both in English and Hindi. It is therefore requested that all banks be instructed to ensure that all ATM machines being procured in future should have the facility of doing transaction and printing in Hindi in Hindi-speaking states and all existing machines should be upgraded to have such a facility," the ministry wrote in identical letters to the RBI, the Finance Ministry and the Indian Banks Association.