Fact Check: No, Rs 173 won’t be deducted for withdrawing money from ATM more than 4 times

New Delhi (Vishvas Team): A Facebook post is getting viral claiming that if anyone uses ATM card to withdraw money from ATM machine more than four times, Rs 173 will be deducted from that person’s bank account. As per another claim in the same post, Rs 150 will be charged for every transaction if more than four transactions are done in anyone’s bank account. The claims in the Facebook post are false.

Claim

As per the Facebook post (Screenshot give above), Rs 173 will be deducted from a person’s bank account if he/she uses ATM machine to withdraw money more than four times. In another claim the post says that Rs 150 will be charged for every transaction if more than four transactions are done in anyone’s bank account.

Investigation

As per the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, the customers can be charged for transactions at ATMs over and above the mandated number of free transactions. However, presently, these charges cannot exceed a maximum of ₹20 per transaction (plus applicable taxes, if any) by his/her bank.

There is a limit of 4 free transactions (cumulative of deposits and withdrawal) in a month. However, 5th transaction onwards, Rs 150 per transaction (plus taxes as applicable) would be levied. However, this rule is already applicable since March, 1, 2017 (as stated on HDFC official website). Therefore, it would be wrong to say that any such rule is going to come into effect from June 1. So, no such rule is going to be implemented by banks from June 1.

A Facebook user ‘Struggler Mudhai RJ’ shared a post claiming: एटीएम से चार बार से अधिक पैसा निकालने पर 150 रुपए टैक्स और 23 रुपए सर्विस चार्ज मिलाकर कुल 173 कटेंगे। एक और तोहफा। एक जून से बैंक में 4 ट्रांजैक्शन के बाद हर ट्रांजैक्शन पर 150 रिपए चार्ज लगेगा। जनता के गले पर एक बार में छुरा क्यों नहीं फेर देते? कमाओ तो टैक्स, बचाओ तो टैक्स और तो और बैंक में जमा कराओ तो टैक्स। फिर वापस निकालो तो टैक्स (After withdrawing money more than four times from the ATM, a total of Rs 173 will be deducted (that includes a tax of Rs 150 and service charge of Rs 23). From June 1, after every 4 transactions, Rs 150 will be charged on every transaction. Why not stab the public in one go? If you earn, then taxed, if you save, then taxed, deposit to bank then taxed and withdraw then taxed. Please forward this message, don’t sit quietly).

We did Google Search to find any news article related to this claim using appropriate keywords, but did not find any story on any such change going to happen from June 1.

Then, we also scanned the official website of the RBI to find anything related to the claim in the Facebook post that Rs 173 will be deducted if transaction is done more than four times from ATM.

On the official website of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), we saw an information which reads – “Banks must offer their savings bank account holders a minimum of five free transactions (including both financial and non-financial) in a month, irrespective of the location of ATMs. In case of ATMs located in six metro locations, viz. Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, banks must offer their savings bank account holders a minimum of three free transactions (including both financial and non-financial transactions) in a month. In case of ATMs located in six metro locations, viz. Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad, banks must offer their savings bank account holders a minimum of three free transactions (including both financial and non-financial transactions) in a month.”

On the official website of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) we also found that: customers can be charged for transactions at ATMs over and above the mandated number of free transactions. However, presently, these charges cannot exceed a maximum of ₹20/- per transaction (plus applicable taxes, if any) by his / her bank.

We then contacted HDFC Bank and interacted with the EVA chat box of the customer service of the bank. When asked about the transaction charge of ATM, we received a reply from the bank that: if you are using the debit card at other bank ATMs you are eligible for 3 free transactions in metro areas (Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad) and 5 free transactions in non metro areas.

Beyond the prescribed limit of transactions, savings and salary account holders will be charged Rs 20 for cash withdrawals per transaction and Rs 8.50 for non-financial transactions.

On the official website of HDFC we found that, there is a limit of 4 free transactions (cumulative of deposits and withdrawal) in a month. However, 5th transaction onwards, Rs 150 per transaction (plus taxes as applicable) would be levied.

We also found a notification on the official website of HDFC dates March 1, 2017. We can see on the notification that states: 4 free transactions can be done in a month. 5th transaction onwards, Rs 150 per transaction (plus tax) would be levied.

We used StalkScan to check the previous posts published by the Facebook user ‘Struggler Mudhai RJ’ and found many misleading posts on the page.

Conclusion: Banks are not going to make any new change from June 1 as claimed in the viral post on Facebook. The claims in the viral post are outdated.

Tags

• ATM