ATM usage fees in India

ATM usage fees in India

In India, ATM annual fees( Rs. 100 in Govt. bank and Rs. 500 in private bank).[18] In 2007, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country's central bank, had issued a directive to all commercial banks to freeze ATM charges and, with effect from 1 April 2009, abolish ATM service charges altogether. Since 2009, customers of any licenced bank are able to use the ATMs of other banks without paying a service charge. Earlier, banks charged between INR 10 and INR 35 per reciprocal transaction.Today a person holding card of other banks can withdraw amount from other bank ATM's but the amount of transaction is limited to 5; after 5th i.e. 6th transaction forward the person would be charged up to INR 20.^[19]

However, banks can still surcharge for items such as credit card ATM cash advances and at foreign ATMs. In addition, RBI imposes significant foreign exchange restrictions on the use of Indian debit VISA/MasterCard abroad. For example, Indian debit VISA cards are routinely marked "Valid in India and Nepal only" due to the country's restrictive foreign exchange reserve policy.

In the same directive, free mutual ATM usage was reverted to 5 free such transactions per monthly statement cycle; beyond which a cap of INR 20 has  been fixed for ATM cards issued to savings bank/term deposit account customers. However ATM Cards issued to current, cash credit, and unit trust account holders would be charged from the first instance. Source wikki