It may take up to three months for ATMs to start dispensing the new Rs 200 notes the Reserve Bank of India had launched on August 24. A few banks have also asked ATM companies to begin testing the currency to recalibrate their machines, but the firms have yet to receive the notes, IANS reported on Sunday.
“The process of recalibration will begin once we receive a directive from the Reserve Bank of India,” said Ravi Goyal, chairman and managing director of AGS Transact Technologies Limited, which claims to operate 60,000 ATMs.
The entire process of recalibration can be completed within 90 days.
“The size of the new notes is different from the existing ones,” Goyal said. “So once we receive the new notes, we will have to understand its dimensions and accordingly reconfigure the ATM cassettes. Next, we will have to check whether the supply of notes is good enough to run the cassettes at full capacity.”
The RBI had said that printing presses had “ramped up” the production of Rs 200 notes, and that they would be distributed across India “over time”.
“Banks have started getting in touch with us for testing the notes,” said Anand Garollu, general manager (services) of the NCR Corporation, which operates more than 1.08 lakh ATMs. “They will let us know which machines they wish to configure for Rs 200, which will require physical visits to the ATMs. However, the new notes are still to be provided to us by the respective banks for the testing to begin.”
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