Rs 200 notes could be available in ATMs by September-end

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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The new Rs 200 notes will soon be available at the ATMs (automated teller machines) within a period of 15-20 days, which could be before the end of September.

After the massive recalibration at ATMs to insert the new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes during the demonetisation period (post November 8 last year), banks and ATMs see Rs 200 note dissemination to be a smooth and gradual exercise.

Since August 25, select counters of RBI offices and banks will issue these notes.

Neeraj Vyas, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Managing Director at State Bank of India, said, “Right now, the Rs 200 notes are in limited supply so we cannot send it to the ATMs but we are testing it. We have given samples to the ATM operators to see if it works in the existing cassettes or will require to build a new one. If we have to recalibrate, it will be mostly done in the cassette for Rs 100 notes so that there is more capacity to load cash. Some places it could be Rs 500 notes’ cassettes.”

Further, given the limited supply of Rs 2000 notes, banks may look at reconfiguring the cassettes of Rs 2000 notes as it is the least in demand due to its difficulty in usage for customers.

A banker also said that about 65 percent of the supply today is Rs 500 notes and Rs 2000 denomination cassettes have been largely converted into Rs 500 ones.

Cassettes are small removable boxes that hold cash inside an ATM. Each cassette has to be configured to dispense a particular note. Currently, ATMs can dispense Rs 100, new Rs 500 and new Rs 2,000 notes (some also dispense Rs 50 notes).

An ATM usually has four cassettes – one for Rs 100 notes, 2 cassettes of Rs 500 and 1 for Rs 2000 -- specially-designed to fit in ATMs to properly dispense cash. Each cassette in an ATM can hold up to Rs 2,500 notes.

Design, texture, size, thickness and supply or availability of the new 200 rupee notes will decide which cassettes will require recalibration at ATMs as it can be a massive exercise which was already done recently post demonetisation across about 2 lakh ATMs.

Navroz Dastur, Managing Director of NCR Corporation, managing nearly 50 percent of ATMs in the country, says by next month the Rs 200 currency notes should definitely be available at ATMs.

"Banks will definitely get these notes into the ATMs. We have got some notes and started testing the calibration and fitting of the notes which should be completed in the next 2-3 days. Some banks have already shown interest of injecting these notes into the ATMs and depending on how much calibration is required post testing; we will get going with the dispensing of the notes," he said.

For testing purpose, there will be some switch-level reconfiguration that will be required. Also, some cassettes of 500 could be used for the Rs 200 notes. It is up to the banks to decide which cassette needs to be calibrated. This will depend on the supply.

ATM operators or manufacturers will need to do a complete testing of the new Rs 200 denomination currency and provide the parameters which need to be configured at the ATM by an engineer.

The reconfiguration needs to be done because of the different dimensions of the notes.

#Note sizes

Rs 50: OLD notes — 147 x 73 mm; NEW notes are 135 x 66 mm

Rs 100: 157 x 73 mm

Rs 200: 146 × 66 mm

Rs 500: OLD notes -- 167 x 73 mm; NEW notes are 150 x 66 mm

Rs 1,000: 177 x 73 mm (denomination does not exist now)

Rs 2000: 166 x 66 mm

"Only about 5-6 banks have got the new Rs 200 rupee notes. I think once all banks receive it, they will issue it to the ATMs. We are all prepared for it and by mid-September we should start getting it. Recalibration will not be a problem and it should be done in a smooth manner," said NSG Rao, Secretary General, Cash Logistics Association (CLA).

According to K Srinivas, CEO & Managing Director, BTI Payments, a white label ATM operator which manages over 4,000 ATMs under brand name India 1, "The Rs 200 denomination would benefit players like us hugely as our customer base is the tier-3, 4 and other smaller cities. It would take a couple of weeks for sure to get the notes but it has to be available in enough quantity which is not yet confirmed by banks."

A white label ATM is one which is owned and managed by a non-bank entity.

For us Rs 2000 denominations are not useful as our customers are the lower income groups. Currently, about 50 percent of the currency is in the form of Rs 2000 notes hence Rs 200 notes would be a big benefit. In rural areas there is a desperate need for smaller denomination notes and I would change all to Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 200 denomination currency notes, Srinivas added.