A survey conducted by the Reserve Bank of India recently shows that almost one third of the ATMs in the country do not work. This was revealed by RBI deputy governor S.S. Mundra recently. The survey covered some 4000 machines across the country with a sample size fairly representing geographies and bank categories. Mundra said the survey results are not all comforting in any way, especially in a scenario where the country has to take up the challenge of providing banking services to the millions of unbanked and poor citizens, especially in the rural areas. The commercial banks in the country – 56 in number – have some 100,000 plus on-site cash vending machines and 96,000 offsite machines as of February 2016. While there has been a curtailment on free ATM transactions since November 2014, there has not been any increase in inter-bank ATM usages.
