The charges you pay for using Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) may change soon. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on 11 June constituted a six-member committee to review the ATM interchange fee structure. Currently, the State Bank of India (SBI) offers eight free transactions to regular savings bank account holders, including five transactions at SBI ATMs and three at other bank ATMs. In non-metros, such account holders get 10 free transactions, including five at SBI ATMs and five at others. Thereafter, it charges ₹20 plus GST per financial transaction and ₹8 plus GST for non-financial transaction as mentioned on the bank's website. The bank currently allows unlimited free transactions at State Bank of India Group (SBG) ATMs to its customers who have maintained an average balance above ₹25,000 in their savings bank account in the previous month.
Normally, all major banks allow a certain number of free transactions at their own ATMs every month but for transactions at ATMs of other banks, there is a certain limit. If the transactions exceed the limit then the banks charge a fee which might vary from bank to bank.
RBI took the decision to set up the committee in view of the growing demands to change the ATM structure and fee. This fee structure determines the charges you pay for using your ATM card at the ATMs of banks other than the issuing bank.
"Usage of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) by the public has been growing significantly. There have, however, been persistent demands to change the ATM charges and fees. In order to address these, it has been decided to set up a Committee involving all stakeholders, under the chairmanship of the Chief Executive Officer, Indian Banks’ Association (IBA), to examine the entire gamut of ATM charges and fees," RBI said in a press statement.
There are about 2 lakh ATMs in the country. At end-April, there were about 88.47 crore debit cards and 4.8 crore credit cards. As per the latest RBI data, 80.9 crore transactions were done through debit cards on ATMs during April.
In order to promote digital transactions, RBI in its monetary policy review also abolished charges for NEFT and RTGS money transfer systems.
