You may have to pay more for ATM withdrawals as operators seek hike in fees

The Confederation of ATM Industry has approached the RBI to hike the ATM interchange fees by Rs 2

You may have to pay more for withdrawing cash from ATMs. The Confederation of ATM Industry (CATMI) has requested the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to increase the interchange fee for cash withdrawals, according to a report by the Economic Times (ET).

CATMI wants the fees raised to a maximum of Rs 23 per transaction. In 2021, the fee was hiked from Rs 15 to Rs 17, and the upper limit for the charge was set at Rs 21.

It has approached the RBI and the NPCI of India to request an increase in the charges to Rs 23 for every transaction, said the newspaper. CATMI said that increasing the feels will ensure more funding for the business.

The RBI is reportedly supportive of the fee hike plan. Interchange fees are payments made by a bank that issued a card to the bank that operates the ATM used for the cash withdrawal.

Currently, savings bank account holders get five free transactions every month in six metro cities. Only three transactions are free for withdrawals in other bank ATMs. For example, if a customer has X bank account, they can withdraw cash five times from their respective banks' ATM and three withdrawals are free if they take out the cash from other bank ATMs.

Stanley Johnson, executive director of AGS Transact Technologies, an ATM manufacturer, told ET that the last time the interchange rate was increased was two years ago. "The last time, it took several years to hike this but I feel everyone is aligned and it's only a matter of time before the (fee) increase will happen," the report quoted him saying.

Another ATM manufacturer was quoted as saying, "There has been heavy lobbying across for increasing the interchange rate. A representation has been sent through NPCI and banks have also agreed for a rate increase."