A third of India's ATMs are broken

[Dubious]

by Charles Riley
@CRrileyCNN
May 25, 2016: 7:30 AM ET

Finding an ATM in India is a struggle at the best of times. Finding one that works is even harder.
For a country that runs on cash, that's a big problem.

Now India's central bank has taken a stab at estimating just how big: Nearly one third of the country's ATMs are broken, according to S.S. Mundra, deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

"Our teams have recently undertaken a survey of almost 4,000 ATMs across the country with sample size fairly representing geographies and bank categories," Mundra said this week. "[The] survey results are not comforting in any way," he added, saying the bank would act to fix the problem.

On social media, the news was met with resignation: "The closest ATM to me is always one of [the broken]," chirped one Indian Twitter user.

The lack of a functioning ATM network is inconvenient. But it creates other problems too. In 2012, cash accounted for 87% of all transactions in India , according to researchers at Tufts University.

The most recent central bank statistics reveal that 1.3 billion Indians are forced to share fewer than 200,000 ATMs. That means Indians have less access to ATMs than people in Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt, according to Tufts.

In rural villages, reaching the nearest cash point can require a lengthy journey. If 66,000 ATMs are out of order at any given time, that means time is wasted trying alternative ways to get cash.

In areas with no local bank branches, a broken ATM can leave customers with no way to access funds.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made financial inclusion one of his top priorities, and has promoted the use of mobile payment systems. The data suggest that with only one cash point for every 6,500 Indians, ATMs might also need another look.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/25/news/india-bank-atm-broken/

There is a video on the page which I cant paste here....kind of funny

Here is the name of the video: Praying at the 'visa' temple in India

so why do people wanna run away from super power

 

[dray]

so why do people wanna run away from super power

The article by CNN is a trolling attempt just like the quoted line above. Yes, government banks have some problems with maintaining ATMs, but ATMs of private banks are well maintained. While ATMs are in plenty in city areas; rural areas have lesser number of ATMs, but that's quite normal. But one ATM per 6500 people is not enough? Let's look into the matter.

6500 people means 1625 families with an average family size of four. Unlike in some western countries where father, mother, husband, wife, son, and daughter might be living with different people or alone, we have a conservative 'family system' where we should count a family for such calculations, not individuals.

Now, 1625 families doing five ATM transactions a month is convenience, anything more than that is misuse due to abundance. That is 8125 transactions per ATM in a month, or 270 transactions a day, or 11 transactions per hour per ATM....which is fairly low. All banks now can use each others' ATMs with five free transactions a month, so we don't even need ATMs of various banks in one place.

Besides, there are other modes of cash withdrawals that function as substitutes of ATMs, like the POS cash withdrawal system where one can go to an authorized person with a card swipe machine, maybe a shop owner, and swipe their cards for cash up to a limit. Also. many shops and restaurants accept cards now, and there are several 'wallets' like Paytm that now offer payment facility even to the roadside tea shops.

The writer has also missed the point that in India banks, especially the governments banks have pretty dense branch network, only SBI and its associate units run close to 15000 bank branches in India, which is unusual for foreign banks.

EDIT: That number should be 6250 people per ATM, not 6500 stated in the article, the writer is poor in basic maths also! I trusted his numbers earlier without checking myself. So the calculation changes.

Now, 1562 families doing five ATM transactions in a month is convenience, anything more than that is misuse due to abundance. That is 7812 transactions per ATM in a month, or 260 transactions a day, or 10.85 transactions per hour per ATM....let's be specific on facts.

 

[Dubious]

The article by CNN is a trolling attempt just like the quoted line above.

the above line was talking about the video on the page in reference to

There is a video on the page which I cant paste here....kind of funny

Here is the name of the video: Praying at the 'visa' temple in India

so why do people wanna run away from super power

Which the troll (you) somehow failed to read/ comprehend...so how am I to accept what you wrote when your basic grasp of what you quoted was way off?

 

[dray]

the above line was talking about the video on the page in reference to

Which the troll (you) somehow failed to read/ comprehend...so how am I to accept what you wrote when your basic grasp of what you quoted was way off?

I didn't expect you to accept, or even grasp what I wrote. So give it a pass..

 

[T90TankGuy]

I didn't expect you to accept, or even grasp what I wrote. So give it a pass..

I am surprised you took the time to even write what you did , these guys are trolls , dont bother.

 

[livingdead]

The article by CNN is a trolling attempt just like the quoted line above. Yes, government banks have some problems with maintaining ATMs, but ATMs of private banks are well maintained. While ATMs are in plenty in city areas; rural areas have lesser number of ATMs, but that's quite normal. But one ATM per 6500 people is not enough? Let's look into the matter.

6500 people means 1625 families with an average family size of four. Unlike in some western countries where father, mother, husband, wife, son, and daughter might be living with different people or alone, we have a conservative 'family system' where we should count a family for such calculations, not individuals.

Now, 1625 families doing five ATM transactions a month is convenience, anything more than that is misuse due to abundance. That is 8125 transactions per ATM in a month, or 270 transactions a day, or 11 transactions per hour per ATM....which is fairly low. All banks now can use each others' ATMs with five free transactions a month, so we don't even need ATMs of various banks in one place.

Besides, there are other modes of cash withdrawals that function as substitutes of ATMs, like the POS cash withdrawal system where one can go to an authorized person with a card swipe machine, maybe a shop owner, and swipe their cards for cash up to a limit. Also. many shops and restaurants accept cards now, and there are several 'wallets' like Paytm that now offer payment facility even to the roadside tea shops.

The writer has also missed the point that in India banks, especially the governments banks have pretty dense branch network, only SBI and its associate units run close to 15000 bank branches in India, which is unusual for foreign banks.

EDIT: That number should be 6250 people per ATM, not 6500 stated in the article, the writer is poor in basic maths also! I trusted his numbers earlier without checking myself. So the calculation changes.

Now, 1562 families doing five ATM transactions in a month is convenience, anything more than that is misuse due to abundance. That is 7812 transactions per ATM in a month, or 260 transactions a day, or 10.85 transactions per hour per ATM....let's be specific on facts.

man, you have too much time at hand.. just leave oneliners... or dont bother... troll posts dont deserve anything better.

 

[CorporateAffairs]

Pity these guys, they do a google on on all BS stuff in India and post.
What has ATM working to be done with the Country's power?
Yes, we were ruled by Italians till two yrs ago and they looted us left and right.
Now that the Italian bar dancer is out of power, you will what real India power is in coming yrs.

 

[nair]

I started using ATM in 2000...... And during that time the place i was posted, the bank did not have an ATM or a branch..... I used to travel about 70 kms every month to withdraw the money...... And today when i see I have ATM's in every 100 mts(i have 3 atm's next to my office, and any given time 1 or 2 will be under repair/not usable )..... Over a period of time people using ATM's are increasing and today one can go to any atm and withdraw his money..... People (trolls) tend to forget that we are a 1.2 billion country

 

[Manindra]

 

[Dubious]

I didn't expect you to accept, or even grasp what I wrote. So give it a pass..

I am surprised you took the time to even write what you did , these guys are trolls , dont bother.

Typical answers...Negative people will see the negative in EVERYTHING!
There was some good stuff in the article which none of you could find >tsk>

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made financial inclusion one of his top priorities, and has promoted the use of mobile payment systems.

 

[dray]

Typical answers...Negative people will see the negative in EVERYTHING!
There was some good stuff in the article which none of you could find >tsk>

Good to know that you actually opened this thread just to highlight that particular sentence: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made financial inclusion one of his top priorities, and has promoted the use of mobile payment systems".

 

[Dubious]

Good to know that you actually opened this thread just to highlight that particular sentence: "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made financial inclusion one of his top priorities, and has promoted the use of mobile payment systems".

Well there is a problem and there is also something being done about it...But pin drop silence from PDF indian community?

 

[dray]

Well there is a problem and there is also something being done about it...But pin drop silence from PDF indian community?

That's because the problem is not much of a problem in reality.

 

[Dubious]

That's because the problem is not much of a problem in reality.

Oh of course not perfect india so perfect they have a temple to pray to get visa to get out of the perfection!

 

[Kyusuibu Honbu]

Its been more than 10 days since India space shuttle launch, and surprising its still causing burns for the OP

Whats does low service availability of ATMs have anything to do emigration of Indians, bizarre logical connection drawn here indicating a condition cognitive impairment of some kind

Here is the name of the video: Praying at the 'visa' temple in India

so why do people wanna run away from super power