Ans. Yes, a bank must offer to its savings bank account holders a minimum number of free transactions at ATMs as under:

• Transactions at a bank’s own ATM (On-Us transactions) at any location: Banks should offer their savings bank account holders a minimum of five free financial transactions in a month, irrespective of the location of ATMs. Any number of non-cash withdrawal transactions will be provided free.

• Transactions at any other banks’ ATM (Off-Us transactions) at Metro locations: In case of ATMs located in six metro locations, viz. Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, and New Delhi, banks shall offer their savings bank account holders a minimum of three free transactions (including financial and non-financial transactions) in a month.

• Transactions at any other banks’ ATM (Off-Us transactions) at non-Metro locations: At any location, other than the six metro locations as above, banks must offer its savings bank account holders a minimum of five free transactions (including financial and non-financial transactions) at other bank ATMs in a month.

Ans. RBI has mandated minimum number of free transactions at ATMs. Banks may offer more number of free transactions to their customers.

Ans. The above does not apply to BSBDA as the number of withdrawals from BSBDA is subject to the conditions associated with such accounts.

Ans. The prescription of number of free transactions is inclusive of financial and non-financial transactions at other bank ATMs. However, non-cash withdrawal transactions (such as balance enquiry, cheque book request, payment of taxes, funds transfer, etc.), on own bank ATMs are not to be part of the number of free ATM transactions. Similarly, transactions that fail on account of technical reasons like hardware, software, communication issues; non-availability of currency notes in the ATM; and other declines ascribable directly / wholly to the bank / service provider; invalid PIN / validations; etc., shall not be counted as valid ATM transactions for the customer. Consequently, no charges thereon shall be levied.

Ans. ATM installing banks have been advised to indicate clearly at each ATM location that the ATM is situated in a ‘metro’ or a ‘non-metro’ location using appropriate means (message displayed on the ATM / sticker / poster, etc.) to enable the customer to identify the status of the ATM in relation to availability of number of free transactions.

Ans. Yes, customers can be charged for transactions at ATMs over and above the mandated number of free transactions (as indicated in answer to Q. 11 above). Presently, these charges cannot exceed a maximum of Rs. 21/- per transaction (plus applicable taxes, if any) by his / her bank.

Ans. The service charges for the following types of cash withdrawal transactions are to be determined by the banks themselves: (a) cash withdrawal with the use of credit cards. (b) cash withdrawal in an ATM located abroad.

Ans. Though banks are supposed to reverse such transactions on their own, it is always a good practice to lodge a complaint with the card issuing bank or ATM owner bank at the earliest.

Ans. Banks / WLA Operators are required to display the name(s) and the contact number(s) of concerned officer(s) / toll free number(s) / help desk number(s) in the ATM premises.

Ans. In the case of a failed ATM transaction, the banks have been mandated to re-credit the customer’s account within 5 calendar days from the date of the failed transaction.