The Reserve Bank of India has acceded to the demand of the banks to allow non-baking entities to set up ATM network. The apex bank has issued draft guidelines for the same. The guidelines from RBI said, "... it has been decided to permit non-banks to set up, own and operate ATMs to accelerate the growth and penetration of ATMs in the country. Such ATMs will be in the nature of White Label ATMs (WLA) and would provide ATM services to customers of all banks."
The Reserve Bank of India said, "Although there has been about 30 per cent year-on-year growth in the number of ATMs deployed in the country since 2008, ATM penetration on a per capita basis continues to be less compared to other countries. There is, therefore, an abundant scope and a felt need to deploy more ATMs, particularly in Tier III to VI areas of the country." The ATMs so installed will be like White Label ATMs (WLA). The move is expected to increase the penetration of ATMs in the country and hence benefiting the customers.
"Being non-bank owned ATMs, the guidelines on five free transactions in a month for using other bank ATMs would not be applicable for transactions effected on the WLAs. The charges for the transactions should be displayed on the screen before the customer initiates the transaction," said the draft. |
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