The number of ATMs across the country stood at over 2.13 lakh by the end of September this year, and over 47 per cent of these are in rural and semi-urban areas, the Finance Ministry said in Parliament on Monday.
According to the RBI data, scheduled commercial banks have installed 2,13,145 ATMs (automated teller machines) up to September 2021. In addition to this, 27,837 White Label ATMs (WLA) were also installed by WLA operators up to September 2021, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha.
"Out of these, 47.4 per cent of the ATMs are installed in the rural and semi-urban centres," Karad said.
To a question on the target to install ATMs by 2022, he said the RBI has apprised that WLA operators are required to deploy a minimum of 1,000 ATMs every year and to maintain a deployment ratio of 1:2:3 for metro and urban, semi-urban and rural regions respectively".
He said the WLA scheme was introduced as an extended delivery channel for banking services, especially in tier III and VI centres.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU