It comes as a great respite to almost all the bank account holders since they will now be shielded from paying unnecessary charges.
The actual reasoning is that whenever you use your ATM card carrying a VISA or VISA Electron or MasterCard logo, it passes through a gateway managed by the respective payment processing company. Hence, whether you use it for your own bank or use it at any other bank ATM with VISA or VISA Electron or MasterCard connectivity, there are no EXTRA charges incurred by the bank. Hence, the banks only end up making a fool of the customers when they charge heavily by saying that “Other bank ATM usage charges”.
In India, the irony is that even some foreign banks which operate in India, charge customers for using their own ATMs. Another problem is that using other banks ATM charges are not known in advance. If I use a HDFC Bank or Axis Bank ATM Card at ICICI Bank ATM, then I may be charged 57 Rs., but if I use it at Citibank ATM, I may be charged somewhat different amount. RBI’s recent regulation will help eliminate this kind of menace.
Let’s look at this regulation from the respect of time & date horizon:
Before 31st March 2008:
You WILL have to pay the charges for using other banks ATM as per the will and wish of your bank. It may be anything from 20 Rs. to 57 Rs. plus Service tax. This will be charged for every transaction, either balance enquiry OR cash withdrawal.
From 1st April 2008 to 31st March 2009:
NO charges for balance enquiry on other bank ATMs
Maximum charges limited to Rs. 20 for cash Withdrawal
From 1st April 2009:
Absolutely NO charges for any kind of financial transaction done at any Bank ATM.
Please note that this scheme will be applicable ONLY on DEBIT and ATM cards.
| NOT on CREDIT CARDS. If you withdraw money from your credit card on your bank or other bank ATMs, then the banks can charge you as much as they wish. Hope to see more such initiatives by the regulatory authorities for the benefit of common man. | Table of Contents |
1 comment:
what about charges incurred by bank on ATM maintenance (real estate rent for ATM location, charges incurred for feeding currency every week etc). this is kind of penalizing banks who have more ATMs.
as of now i use one particular bank only because you can find their ATMS in every nook and corner of city (one more reason is there for using that bank but not related to bank performance/facilities). so now people like me would move away from that bank.
anyway good move for end users.
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