The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has reduced the number of free transactions of cross-bank ATMs savings bank account holders from the current five to three a month.
The central bank has also permitted lenders to charge fees from users, if they use their own bank ATM more than five times a month.
If a customer crosses the limit, they will be required to pay a fee of up to INR20 for using ATMs in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Hyderabad.
The new guidelines, which were issued following discussions with the RBI by Indian Banks’ Association, will be effective from 1 November 2014.
In a statement, the RBI said: "Given the growth in cash access points and taking into account the associated costs of infrastructure to banks and the economy more generally, the Reserve Bank of India has decided to revise the existing directions relating to the use of automated teller machines (ATMs) and charges on their use."
However, the charges will not be levied at customers having no-frills/small/basic savings bank deposit account (BSBDA) type of accounts and for transactions carried out by savings bank account holders at ATMs located outside these six metro cities.
