Madhya Pradesh based RTI activist Chandrashekhar Gaud had asked the SBI that how many ATMs have been recalibrated for dispensing the new currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200 denomination.
The recalibration is a process, in which the cassettes in the ATMs that hold cash are modified to suit the size of the currency.
In a reply sent on August 18, SBI said that out of 59,521 ATMs, 41,386 have been recalibrated and an amount of Rs 22.50 crore was spent on this work.
This response disclose 18,135 ATMs at present are not able to dispense new currency notes that is 30.5% of SBI ATMs not calibrated post demonetisation
It is important to note that On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations. After this, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had issued new currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200 in a phased manner.
