RBI hikes ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 4500 from Jan 1, tells banks to give out Rs 500 notes
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In a bid to ease the cash crunch, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday decided to increase the cash withdrawal limit from ATMs to Rs 4,500 per day from the present Rs 2,500 with effect from January 1.
However, there has been no change in the weekly withdrawal limit, which stands at Rs 24,000, including from ATM, for individuals and Rs 50,000 in case of small traders.
“On a review of the position, the daily limit of withdrawal from ATMs has been increased (within the overall weekly limits specified) with effect from January 1, 2017, from the existing Rs 2,500 to Rs 4,500 per day per card,” the central bank said in a notification.
Following demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes on November 9, limits had been imposed on withdrawal of cash from banks as well as ATMs.
The Reserve Bank’s notification further stated “there is no change in weekly withdrawal limits” and such disbursals “should predominantly be in the denomination of Rs 500”.
Earlier in the day, the RBI had permitted White Label ATM Operators (WLAOs) to source cash from retail outlets. Most of the White Label ATMs are running dry since demonetisation as the operators were facing difficulties in sourcing cash from their sponsor banks.
According to numbers released on December 21, RBI had supplied currency amounting to Rs 5.92 lakh crore till December 19 against the Rs 15.4 lakh crore made defunct on November 8.
However, earlier today, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that RBI has enough currency and situation of cash supply has improved significantly.
Yesterday was the last day to deposit the invalid currency notes in banks. However, people still have time to exchange the currency notes at designated RBI counters till March 31 after giving valid reasons for not depositing defunct notes in their accounts by December 30.
