New Delhi: The Confederation of ATM Industry (CATMi) has warned that nearly half of the 2.38 lakh machines in the country by March 2019.
A majority of the ATMs which can be shut down will be in the non-urban areas, it said, underlining that this can impact the financial inclusion efforts as beneficiaries use the machines to withdraw government subsidies.
Closure of the ATMs will impact thousands of jobs and also the the financial inclusion efforts of the government, the industry body said in a statement.
Here are the reasons why service providers may be forced to close down almost 1.13 lakh ATMs across the country by March 2019.
CATMi said that recent regulatory changes, including those on hardware and software upgrades, coupled with mandates on cash management standards may make it unviable to operate ATMs.
The cassette swap method of loading cash, is also another reason that will make ATM operations unviable, resulting in the closure.