Recalibration of 2.4 lakh ATMs for new Rs 100 note will cost Rs 1 billion: Report

Around 2.4 lakh automated teller machines (ATMs) will require recalibration at a cost of Rs 1 billion for the newly introduced Rs 100 notes, according to a report by Business Standard.

Quoting Loney Anthony, managing director of Hitachi Payment Services, the report states that the process can take one year or more to complete. An official told the publication that the process will be carried out in phases.

Experts state that the difference in size of the new Rs 100 note and the old one is one of the causes of concern.

“There are four cassettes in every ATM. The different dimensions of the Rs 100 note will mean that two cassettes will be used for a single denomination, leaving only two cassettes for the higher denomination notes,” Sanjeev Patel, managing director of Tata Communications Payment Solutions, was quoted as saying by the paper. “This will reduce the cash carrying capacity of ATMs,” he added.

Another concern is striking a balance between the supply of new notes and withdrawal of the old ones.

“…If the supply of the new currency is unable to fill the gap created by the withdrawal of old currency, the dispensation of Rs 100 notes through ATMs will get affected till such time as the imbalance exists,” Radha Rama Dorai, managing director of FIS, a payments service provider, told the paper.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had, on July 19, announced that the bank is planning to release a new lavender-coloured Rs 100 note which would have RBI Governor Urjit Patel’s signature on it.

This is the fifth new banknote size to be issued by the central bank since demonetisation in November 2016.