Over 10,000 ATMs are being recalibrated per day to bring down the cash crunch

Advertisement
Over 10,000 ATMs are being recalibrated per day to bring down the cash crunch Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s demonetisation scheme, one third of India's 202,000 automated teller machines (ATMs) have been recalibrated so they can dispense new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 currency notes and this will expectedly ease the pressure on banks struggling to meet demand.
Advertisement

Nearly 10,200 ATMs are being recalibrated in a day and this means that the entire process should be over in the next 10-12 days before November salaries are credited to accounts and withdrawal pressure peaks, officials said.

The government may review the Rs 2,000 currency exchange limit next week, depending on whether around 80% of the ATMs have been recalibrated, the officials added.

The modi-government is literally pushing the banks to speed up adjustments to the machines.

A senior government official confirmed that an informal target of recalibrating at least 12,000 ATMs a day has been given to the banks by the working group looking into the issue.

Advertisement

"There are around 2,000 engineers who are working on it. We are hopeful to get the remainder done in the next two weeks,” a senior official told ET.

With more recalibrated ATMs going live and the daily limit of Rs 2,500 per card, the situation has improved somewhat in the urban centres.