Although the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has now facilitated cash withdrawals at no transaction fee from ATM networks across the country, millions of debit card holders had an unpleasant experience while flocking to withdraw money from ATMs of another bank in the last 48 hours.
Also, it is learnt through sources that the information technology and computer linkage systems of three large banks ? State Bank of India (SBI),HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank, which have a wide ATM network, were exposed to huge stress in the past 48 hours as they were visited in vast numbers for cash withdrawals by customers.
In the last two days, many people have contacted FE in a bid to lodge their protests over the alleged denial of cash dispensing to other bank?s customers by ATMs of leading banks like ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India and Canara Bank, among others.
According to some customers, the debit cards of SBI, State Bank of Travancore, Bank of India, South Indian Bank, Dhanlakshmi Bank, Syndicate Bank and Federal Bank were not accepted by the ATMs of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank and PNB for cash dispensing.
When contacted by FE , a senior executive in the information technology department of SBI admitted that sensitive devices attached or embedded in the ATM machines of many Indian banks failed to recognise the authenticity of the debit cards issued by SBI due to technical constraints unfortunately.
A spokesperson of a leading private lender blamed Airtel ? the bank?s satellite link provider for the reported failure of such a magnitude across its ATM network. ?There exists no problem in our bank?s system,? said an ICICI Bank’s spokersperson.
When contacted by FE , HDFC Bank spokesperson said that the technical hitch at the end of National Financial Switch could have created identification or an access difficulty for other banks? consumers who could have encountered such a problem at HDFC Bank ATMs. The NFS spokesperson was not available for comment on this issue.