The Reserve Bank of India has reduced the number of free withdrawals from ATMs of other banks in metros from the current five to three in a month. RBI has also allowed banks to levy ATM charges beyond five transactions (both financial and non-financial) for their own account holders. A customer will be required to pay a fee of up to Rs 20 for using ATMs beyond the permitted number of free transactions in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad. The new guidelines will come into effect from 1 November. The reduction in the number of transactions will, however, not be applicable to customers having basic or small savings bank accounts. RBI said in a statement this has been because the number of ATMs has increased to 160,000 by March end from 27,000 seven years earlier.
