Penalty ₹ 10,000 on ATM soon, for non-replenishment with cash

[CSLalit Rajput]

RBI to impose Penalty ₹ 10,000 soon, for non-replenishment of ATMs with cash

Key Highlights:

• Banks to be fined for non-availability of cash in ATMs.
• The RBI will start imposing penalties on banks in case the ATMs remain out-of-cash for a total period of 10 hours in a month from October 1, 2021, onwards.
• Banks will have to submit a system generated statement on downtime of ATMs due to non-replenishment of cash to the RBI.
• The bank, may, at its discretion, recover the penalty from the WLA operator.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) vide notification no. RBI/2021-22/84 DCM (RMMT) No.S153/11.01.01/2021-22 dated 10^th day of August 2021, issued notification regarding Monitoring of Availability of Cash in ATMs.  In case of White Label ATMs (WLAs), the penalty would be charged to the bank which is meeting the cash requirement of that particular WLA.

The RBI has now decided that the banks or white label ATM operators (WLAOs) shall strengthen their systems/mechanisms to monitor availability of cash in ATMs and ensure timely replenishment to avoid cash-outs. Any non-compliance in this regard shall be viewed seriously and shall attract monetary penalty as per the "scheme of penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs".

Scheme of Penalty for non-replenishment of ATMs

• Effective Date

The Scheme shall be effective from October 01, 2021. Therefore, banks/ WLAOs should put in place a robust system for monitoring the availability of cash in ATMs and ensure timely replenishment to avoid cash-outs.

• Condition for counting instances of cash-outs in an ATM

When the customer is not able to withdraw cash due to non-availability of cash in a particular ATM.

• Procedure

Banks (lenders) shall submit system generated statement on downtime of ATMs due to non- replenishment of cash to the Issue Department of RBI under whose jurisdiction these ATMs are located. In case of WLAOs, the banks which are meeting their cash requirement shall furnish a separate statement on behalf of WLAOs on cash-out of such ATMs due to non-replenishment of cash. Such statements shall be submitted for every month within five days of the following month i.e., first such statement for the month of October 2021 shall be submitted on or before November 05, 2021 to the Issue Department concerned.

• Quantum of Penalty

Cash-out at any ATM of more than ten hours in a month will attract a flat penalty of ₹ 10,000/- per ATM. In case of White Label ATMs (WLAs), the penalty would be charged to the bank which is meeting the cash requirement of that particular WLA. The bank, may, at its discretion, recover the penalty from the WLA operator.

The inconvenience caused to the public due to the non-availability of cash in ATMs led the central bank to take this decision. “The ‘Scheme of Penalty for Non-replenishment of ATMs’ has been formulated to ensure that sufficient cash is available to the public through ATMs.