In what seems a bad news for bank customers, starting from the first day of the New Year, one will have to pay a higher amount for ATM transactions across the country. Yes, you heard that right! From January 1, 2022, if a customer exceeds the permissible number of free transactions in a month, then they will have to pay an additional amount for the same.
Customers will have to pay Rs 21 per transaction instead of Rs 20, in case they exceed the number of free monthly transactions, as per a notice published by RBI earlier this year. As per the new RBI rule, bank customers now get five free transactions (including financial and non-financial) every month from ATMs of their respective banks.
Additionally, the customers will also get three free transactions from other bank ATMs in metro centers and 5 free transactions in non-metro centers. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to hike fees for cash and non-cash ATM transactions after the free monthly permissible limit is exhausted by a customer.
The RBI has allowed this reportedly to compensate the banks for the higher interchange fee and the general escalation in costs. On the other hand, banks have already started notifying their customers about the new regulation.
A few private sector banks like ‘Axis Bank’ and ‘HDFC Bank’ had recently notified that the ATM transaction fee rate beyond the free limit will be changed to Rs 21 plus taxes from the first of January.
Video Editor: Surendra Pradhan
Producer: Diptyranjita Patra