Daily ATM Withdrawal Limit Increased To Rs 10,000/Day; But Free ATM Withdrawals Can Be Limited To 3/Month
As per various estimates, more than 50% of the demonetized currencies have returned back to the system. This means that cash is not being hoarded anymore, and the markets are circulating currencies like before.
Signaling ease of demonetization troubles, RBI has now increased daily ATM withdrawals to Rs 10,000 per day. Right now, the limit is Rs 4500 per day, per ATM.
Meanwhile, extending the same to cash withdrawals from bank counters, current account holders can now withdraw up to Rs 1 lakh as cash, per week. Right now, the cap for current account holders is Rs 50,000 per week.
And, as per reports, cash withdrawal from bank counters for saving accounts holders will be soon increased to Rs 40,000 per week, up from Rs 24,000 which is the limit now.
This relaxation from RBI regarding cash withdrawals from ATM and bank counters came as the supply of Rs 500 has now more or less stabilized, across the nation.
But.. Free ATM Withdrawals Can Be Limited To 3/Month!
Meanwhile, in order to discourage cash usage, Govt. is right now considering a proposal from RBI, which will limit free ATM withdrawals to only 3 per month. As per the new proposal, it wouldn’t matter whether the debit card is being used in the same bank’s ATM or any other bank’s: Only 3 withdrawals would be henceforth allowed.
Currently, 5 free ATM withdrawals are allowed for using the same bank, 5 free withdrawals are used for using other bank’s ATM; and subsequently, Rs 20 + service tax is charged for each ATM withdrawal. However, non-bank customers in 6 metros: Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad are only allowed 3 free ATM withdrawals.
Explaining the logic behind this rationale, one private banker said, “Those free transactions were decided during a different era, but things have changed now and we need to change with that.. If only three free transactions are allowed, then people will be inclined to shift to digital transactions.”
Announcements regarding the same are expected in the upcoming budget speech.
New Rs 1000 Note?
Another set of reports indicate that RBI is working on creating a new design for Rs 1000 note, which wouldn’t be printed on a large scale but printed to divide to the gap between Rs 500 and Rs 2000 for smoother transactions.
As per available reports, this new Rs 1000 note would be of smaller size, compared to demonetized currency so that it fits well into the current ATM machines.
Note here, that RBI had earlier denied printing or designing a new Rs 1000 note.
We will keep you updated as more details come in..
