New Delhi: Coming October 31, customers of the State Bank of India (SBI) will not be able to withdraw the same amount of money they have been through ATMs. In a recent notification, India’s largest lender has put a restriction on daily cash withdrawals from ATMs. SBI on its official website announced that daily cash withdrawal limit for Classic and Maestro debit cards has been reduced from Rs 40,000 to Rs 20,000 per day with effect from October 31. The bank also stated that if customers want an increased withdrawal limit, they can apply for a higher card variant issued by the bank. The cutdown in withdrawal limit to half is only for maestro and classic debit card users of SBI. The bank has justified the move by saying that it will protect customers from fraudulent cash withdrawals from ATMs and also to pump up digital transactions.


Speaking to news agency PTI, SBI Managing Director PK Gupta said, “We analysed all the ATM transactions and we found that most of them are less than Rs 20,000 a day. In the case of frauds reported to us, we found that in all such cases withdrawals of Rs 40,000 (the maximum) have happened. So this is basically to protect the customers and secondly, we want that more such (digital) transactions should happen.”

The move might come as a disappointment for customers ahead of festive season as people tend to buy big ticket iteams such as vehicles, TVs, ACs etc during this time. However, answering to the same, Gupta said that the option is always open to visit a brand to withdraw more cash besides there are many digital means through which people can make their transactions these days.

On the other hand, private sector banks have much extended daily cash withdrawal limits. ICICI Bank customers can withdraw up to Rs 50,000 per day from any of its ATMs. HDFC Bank allows its customers to withdraw up to Rs 1 lakh per day from ATMs with the Platinum chip debit card.