Cash Availability, ATM Functionality Monitored Regularly, Says Government

The government has said that it is aware of reports suggesting unavailability of cash in "several ATMs" across the country. Cash availability and ATM functionality is being monitored regularly to ensure sufficient availability of cash in ATMs, Minister of State for Finance Shiv Pratap Shukla said in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday. Currency notes are made available so that ATMs do not run dry in any eventuality and people do not face problems, he said in a written response to a question in the upper house of Parliament.

Here are five things the government said on about cash availability in ATMs:

1. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has informed that the increase in demand for currency recently, which led to high ATM usage, can be attributed to "seasonal and structural issues", Mr Shukla said.

2. Seasonal issues such as demand for cash in the agriculture sector, with few state governments announcing farming- and pension-related schemes, and structural issues - including economic growth and high currency deposit ratio in some states - led to high ATM usage, according to the central bank. The Punjab government on Monday released Rs 760 crore to clear outstanding payments against free power subsidy for farmers, besides other payments towards agriculture and allied activities. All the pending VAT/GST bills have also been cleared with the release of Rs 17 crore, news agency Press Trust of India cited an official spokesperson as saying.

3. As on July 18, 2018, the total stock of issuable currency in the country was 2.93 lakh crores, the minister quoted the RBI as saying. That, he said, included RBI vaults and currency chests of all banks across the country. He also said that the central bank has informed that the total amount of notes in circulation (NIC) as on July 18, 2018 was Rs 19.28 lakh crore as compared to Rs 17.74 lakh crore as on November 4, 2016.

4. The government, he added, has requested all banks to efficiently manage cash to ensure that an adequate amount is available for ATMs and people do not face any problems. 

5. "Further, the position of fresh / re-issuable notes in currency chests of banks and in RBI vaults are being monitored on a regular basis and adequate supply of cash is being ensured," Mr Shukla added.

(With agency inputs)