The Finance Ministry has urged people to withdraw only as much cash as they need from ATMs, and the Ministry is looking into complaints about ATMs running dry, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said here on Wednesday.
He ruled out the possibility of a new ₹1,000 denomination note, saying the focus instead was on the supply of ₹500 and lower denomination notes.
However, last November, at the Economics Editors’ Conference, Mr. Das had said that the government was planning to issue a ₹1,000 note “with new dimensions, new design and new colour”. “Complaints of cash-out in ATMs being addressed. Request everyone to draw the cash they actually require. Overdrawal by some deprives others,” Mr. Das tweeted on Wednesday. “Enough cash available. Logistics issues of reloading ATMs more frequently being addressed.”
“No plans to introduce ₹1,000 notes. Focus is on production and supply of ₹500 and lower denomination notes,” Mr. Das said in another tweet.
The statements come a fortnight after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the Rajya Sabha that “not for a single day was the supply of currency inadequate” during and after the note ban period.
The Reserve Bank of India, as of February 20, had relaxed the withdrawal limits from ATMs to ₹50,000 per week from a savings account from the earlier limit of ₹24,000 per week. The central bank said it would remove all limits from March 13 onwards.
