The ATM operations industry on Friday said banks will need to pay Rs 100 crore to recalibrate ATMs to dispense the newly-introduced Rs 100 notes, PTI reported.
The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday announced that it will soon issue new Rs 100 denomination currency notes that will have a motif of the Rani Ki Vav, a stepwell in Gujarat, on one side. The base colour of the note in the new Mahatma Gandhi series is lavender. All earlier banknotes in the same denomination will continue to be legal tender.
“As is normal, when a new design of banknote is introduced, printing and supply of these notes for distribution to public through the banking channel will gradually increase,” the RBI added.
“Around 2.4 lakh ATMs will need to be recalibrated,” V Balasubramanian, the president of ATM management company FSS, said. The co-existence of both the new and old Rs 100 notes will pose a challenge, he said. Balasubramanian also serves as the director of lobby, Confederation of ATM Industry.
“The continuity of old notes, introduction of new notes through the ATM channel and their availability will determine whether to recalibrate or not,” he said.
Hitachi Payment Services’ managing director Loney Antony said, “We believe that the exercise involving the new Rs 100 note could cost over Rs 100 crore and take 12 months to completely recalibrate 2.4 lakh ATMs in the country.” As the recalibration for the new Rs 200 note is still not completed, the effort for the new Rs 100 note could take longer, unless planned properly, he added.
Euronet Services’ Managing Director Himanshu Pujara said “the change in dimensions will make dissemination difficult as it will not be available through the ATM channel”. Pujara, however, added that the introduction of a note that was made in India was something to be proud of.
The dimensions of the new note will be 66 mm × 142 mm, while the current Rs note is 73 mm x 157 mm.
Since the Narendra Modi-led government decided to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, 2016, the RBI has introduced new notes for Rs 2,000, Rs 500, Rs 200, Rs 50 and Rs 10 denominations.
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