Government Puts Off Raising ATM Withdrawal Limit To Rs 4,000/Day

New Delhi: Government has decided not to increase the ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 4,000 a day by this weekend as majority of the ATMs are yet to be recalibrated for dispensing new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 notes.

ATM withdrawal limit from savings bank accounts will continue at Rs 2,500 a day for the time being. The limit set after Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday night reviewed the demonetisation of higher currency notes.

Cash withdrawal from current accounts, which have been in operation for at least three months, has also been restricted to Rs 50,000 in a week, a notification said.

After withdrawing 500 and 1,000 rupee notes - which makeup for 86 per cent of the total currency in circulation, the government had on November 8 set a cash withdrawal limit of Rs 2,000 per day from ATMs. This limit was to be raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from November 19, 2016. The limit was hiked to Rs 2,500 yesterday.

Following this the November 14 notification, said "the words, letters and figures 'and the limit shall be raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from November 19, 2016' shall be omitted".

The government had yesterday said that only ATMs that have been tuned to handle differently sized new currency notes of 2000 and 500 will dispense Rs 2,500 per day cash. Others will continue to be restricted at Rs 2,000 a day.

"The ATMs are progressively getting recalibrated. As and when they are recalibrated, the cash limit of such ATMs will stand enhanced to Rs 2500 per withdrawal. This will enable dispensing of lower denomination currency notes for about Rs 500 per withdrawal. Other ATMs which are yet to be recalibrated, will continue to dispense Rs 2000 till they are recalibrated," Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das had said yesterday.

For withdrawals through cheque, the weekly cap has been hiked to Rs 24,000 from Rs 20,000. Also, the restriction of daily withdrawal of Rs 10,000 through cheque or withdrawal slip has been dispensed away and such withdrawals would be within the overall Rs 24,000 a week limit.

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