Currency in surplus, ATMs being monitored daily post demonetisation: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the currency is in surplus and the ministry is monitoring status of ATMs on a daily basis to sort out operational issues.

“The Department of Financial Services is collecting details about money in ATMs. There might be a few operational issues in some locations... I get report on a daily basis...  we are monitoring it so that these kinds of situations do not arise. Currency as of now is in surplus, there is no shortage,” the minister said.

He was replying to queries on several ATMs, including in Delhi, running dry.

Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal said her department is monitoring the situation on a daily basis on how much money was loaded in ATMs and how much is remaining that can be used further.

Echoing Jaitley, she said: “As of now, there is no currency shortage or shortage at ATMs. It might be in cases of offsite ATMs because they are being loaded by the agents so there might be some gap in such cases.”

Post demonetisation there was a cap on withdrawal from ATMs, but gradually it has been eased. However, there still exists a weekly cap of Rs 24,000 on withdrawal from ATMs, in line with the ceiling on savings bank accounts.

RBI has announced that the Rs 24,000 weekly cap will be enhanced to Rs 50,000 from February 20. All the limits on cash withdrawal will be removed on March 13.