ATMs still running dry; withdrawals drop due to shortage of Rs 500, Rs100 notes

Nearly three weeks after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted cash-withdrawal limits imposed in the wake of demonetisation, ATMs continue to run dry in several locations.

Even though cash supply has improved, the availability of lower-denomination notes of Rs 500 and Rs 100 is insufficient. According to the latest RBI data, currency in circulation had risen to Rs 13.12 trillion as of 24 March from Rs 17.97 trillion on 4 November. But the pace of remonetisation has slowed down.

"There has been a steep fall in currency production. Earlier, if the presses were printing 150 million pieces of all denominations a day, it has now fallen to 110 million pieces," a senior bank official said, declining to be named.

"Workers have gone back to their earlier schedule. They are no longer working on 12-hour shifts."

ATM operators were expecting the situation to



normalise after the recent assembly elections, but that has not happened. According to CMS Info Systems Pvt. Ltd, the largest ATM operator, customers continue to withdraw a little more than what they actually need because of scarcity of currency notes.

"Within the CMS network, we are seeing that approximately 85% of ATMs are being replenished on a daily basis. However, we are also loading around 30% less than what we used to per ATM, and seeing around 9-10% of ATMs remaining dry (over 10-day periods)," said CMS spokesperson Sandhya Menon.

ATM operators point out that the paucity of Rs 500 and Rs100 notes in ATMs have led to a drop in cash withdrawals. "Lower-denomination notes are still not available and therefore people are hesitant to withdraw higher-denomination notes," said Ramaswamy Venkatachalam, managing director, India and South Asia, FIS, an ATM manufacturer.