If you often withdraw cash from an ATM, be prepared to pay a bit extra starting May 1. This comes after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved a hike in ATM interchange fees, the amount a bank pays to another for using its services, including the expense of owning an ATM. Apart from that, it also includes charges for offering exclusive services to a cardholder of another bank.
Cash withdrawal fee: Rs 17 to Rs 19 per transaction
Balance inquiry fee: Rs 6 to Rs 7 per transaction
Effective from: May 1, 2025
While the financial transactions get expensive by Rs 2, the non-financial transactions, such as balance inquiries, will cost an extra rupee from May 1.
The hiked fees are a component of an RBI-authorised revision based on a National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) recommendation. White-label ATM operators had been pushing for a raise, claiming the previous fees were unaffordable in light of growing operating expenses.
The RBI-approved revised fees will soon become the new standard, Business Today reported. RBI has yet to publish an official notification about the hiked interchange fees.
The hike in transaction fees is more likely to affect smaller banks because of their limited ATM network, which forces them to rely on other, bigger banks.
The move will directly raise the cost of cash withdrawals and balance checks for consumers using ATMs outside their home bank network.
These fees come into effect after users exhaust their free monthly limits -- three transactions at non-metropolitan ATMs and five in metropolitan locations.
Regular ATM users might choose to switch to digital payment methods or stick to their home bank's ATMs once the higher fees take effect.
The ATM fee was last revised in June 2021.
