Cap on 3rd party ATM usage from Thursday

From October 15, a customer can take out a maximum of Rs 10,000 per withdrawal from ATMs not owned by the bank in which he has an account, and the number of such transactions would be limited to five a month. In August, RBI had asked banks to impose the restrictions on third-party ATM usage from mid-October. The step followed recommendations by Indian Banks’ Association (IBA). The IBA had submitted its recommendations to the RBI citing burden on banks due to a large number of third party usage and small-ticket withdrawals, resulting in high interchange expenses for banks.

Going by the IBA guidelines, a savings account holder may get five free third-party transactions a month and could be charged from sixth onwards. However, current account holders might not get any free third-party usage. The short-lived freedom of using ATMs of other banks, for services like cash withdrawals and account enquiries, without being charged for the same, was brought in force by the RBI on April 1.