Rs 200 notes maybe available in ATMs only after three months

It can be as long as three months before the new Rs 200 currency notes are made available across ATMs. The ATMs need to be calibrated to handle and dispense the new note launched last month, various reports said.

The Reserve Bank of India issued the Rs 200 currency notes for the first time ever on August 25. This was to make cash transactions easier by bridging the availability gap between currency notes of denomination Rs 100 and Rs 500. As of now, the new Rs 200 bills have been made available at select RBI offices and bank branches.

Some banks have even informally asked ATM manufactures to conduct tests for recalibrating the ATMs to handle Rs 200 notes, stated a report in The Economic Times. The ATM companies are yet to get samples of the new Rs 200 notes, the report added. The RBI has also not issued any official notice in this regard yet.

Recalibrating an ATM means changing the cassettes, or small boxes which hold and dispense cash, as per the dimensions of the currency notes. Each cassette can hold 2,500 notes. The ATM providers will also have to consider the supply of notes to match it with the capacity of an ATM.

Earlier reports had suggested that the new Rs 200 notes will be available at ATMs within the last week of August. Presently there are 2.25 lakh ATMs operational across the country, which had been recalibrated during the time of demonetisation to accommodate new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 currency notes.

The Rs 200 note was introduced in the Indian economy after the need for another denomination between Rs 500 and Rs 100 was felt after the cash shortage kicked off by demonetisation. The RBI had announced that more Rs 200 notes will be pumped in the economy to ensure their easy availability.

"However, the production of these notes is being ramped up by the currency printing presses, and over time as more notes are printed, it will be distributed across the country through the banking channels and will be available for public in adequate quantity," RBI had said in a press release.

These new notes have been issued under the Mahatma Gandhi new series, under which the new Rs 500 and Rs 2000 notes were issued during remonetisation. The Rs 50 note with new design issued recently also come under this series.

Besides carrying the RBI governer's signature with the promise clause and RBI emblem towards right of Mahatma Gandhi portrait, the Rs 200 note also features a number panel with numerals that grow from small to big on the top left side and bottom right side. The Rs 200 note is secured by a thread with inscriptions Bharat in Devnagiri and RBI with colour shift that changes from green to blue upon tilting. The reverse side the Rs 200 note includes year of printing, motif of Sanchi Stupa and Swatch Bharat logo with a slogan. The Rs 200 note is 66 mm by 146 mm in size.

Also watch: