We reported on 20th July that The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will soon issue new ₹100 denomination bank notes, which are lavender in colour and of the dimensions 66 mm × 142 mm.
However, this news has elicited a tepid reaction from the automated teller machine (ATM) industry, as people with knowledge of the matter say that the exercise of recalibration of over 2 lakh ATMs in India according to the new ₹100 note will require an investment of upto ₹100 crore, and at least 12 months of time to completely recalibrate all ATMs across the country.
The introduction of the new ₹100 note comes almost a year after the introduction of the ₹200 note, which also required a lengthy and costly recalibration process. The industry has just about finished recalibrating ATMs for the ₹200 denomination notes.
Another problem which arises out of the situation is the co-existence of both the new and the older versions of the ₹100 notes, which are of different dimensions (the older one being 157×73 mm, and the newer one being 66 mm×142 mm). This means that the recalibration of ATMs can only be determined according to the continuity of old notes and availability of new notes.
In all likelihood the new notes will take a while to reach the public, as the RBI has said that printing and supply of these notes for distribution to public through the banking channel will “gradually increase”
Hence, if there is an imbalance between the supply of the new currency notes and the withdrawal of the old current notes, dispensation of ₹100 denomination notes from ATMs will be affected till the gap exists. This means that in the initial months, the ₹100 note will only be dispensed through bank branches and not through ATMs, much like what happened with the ₹200 note.
As announced in a statement issued by the RBI, the new ₹100 notes will be lavender in colour, carry the motif “RANI KI VAV” (The Queen’s Stepwell) on the reverse, and will bear the signature of Dr. Urjit R. Patel, the current governor of the RBI.