GUWAHATI: Service providers may be forced to close down almost 1.13 lakh ATMs across India by March 2019, according to the Confederation of ATM Industry (CATMi).
A large number of ATMs in non-urban locations may be shut down due to unviability of operations.
“These numbers include approximately one lakh off-site ATMs and a little over 15,000 white label ATMs. Currently, the country has approximately 2.38 lakh installed ATMs, as per the latest publicly available figures,” the apex body of the domestic ATM industry said in a statement.
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“If this happens, the financial inclusion programme would be severely impacted as millions of beneficiaries under the government’s Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) scheme, who withdraw subsidies in form of cash through ATMs, may find their neighborhood ATM shut,” the statement pointed out.
It is to be mentioned that this may result in long queues and chaos similar to what the country witnessed when ATMs were not dispensing cash, post demonetisation.
