New Delhi: Nearly half of the total Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) might shut down by March 2019 on the account of high operational charges. According to a recent warning by the Confederation of ATM Industry (CATMi) said that changes in the regulatory landscape are making it unviable to operate ATMs and may lead to the closure of half of the 2.38 lakh machines in the country by March 2019. The body also stressed the fact that the closure of these ATMs will impact thousands of jobs and will also affect the financial inclusion efforts of the government. “Service providers may be forced to close down almost 1.13 lakh ATMs across the country by March 2019. These numbers include approximately one lakh off-site ATMs and a little over 15,000 white label ATMs,” the ATM confederation said. It also said that the industry has reached a tapping point.

Maximum of the ATMs which might shut down belongs from rural areas and the move will severely hurt the financial inclusions as the beneficiaries use the ATM machines to withdraw government subsidies. The industry body also mentioned that recent regulatory changes, including those on hardware and software upgrades, coupled with mandates on cash management standards and the cassette swap method of loading cash, will make ATM operations unviable, resulting in the closure.

As per the estimate, the new cash logistics and cassette swap mechanism will alone cost Rs 3,000 crore for the industry. The industry body also stated that several ATMs of the country are still reeling under the shock of demonetisation announced by the government back in November 2016.

The CATMi also stated that closure of these many ATMs across the country would also affect millions of bank account holders under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna (PMJDY) scheme. It also said that the move would lead to a demonetisation like unrest in the country.

However, the government-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) has denied any such plans and has also said that bank has no major plans to reduce the number of ATMs it has by March 2019. The bank also said that it has started the implementation of extensive security measures on ATMs and there are no plans to increase the ATM usage charges. According to news agency PTI, PNB is one of the largest ATM service providing bank in the country with a total of 9,428 ATMs.