The Central government and the Reserve Bank of India have reportedly told banks across the country to calibrate the ATMs in a "phased" manner in order to dispense Rs 200 notes.
A senior Finance Ministry official, speaking to Business Standard, said that a fifth of the country's 2,21,000 ATMs have been reconfigured.
Notes of Rs 200 denomination was introduced in August 2017, almost nine months after the Narendra Modi government demonetised old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes. While about 2 lakh ATMs can reportedly disperse Rs 500 notes, ATMs are being recalibrated to accommodate the new Rs 200 notes.
The RBI had earlier said that it was raising the circulation of Rs 200 notes to "ensure balance" in the denomination-mix of currency notes made available to the public.
Early in April this year, several ATMs reported non-availability of cash in ATMs across several states, including poll-bound Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
The Reserve Bank of India issued a circular clarifying that there is no currency shortage. It said there is sufficient cash in the RBI vaults and currency chests and printing of the notes has been ramped up.
(With inputs from Business Standard)
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