The Reserve Bank of India has issued Certificate of Authorisation to the following four non-bank entities for setting up and operating White Label ATMs (WLAs) in India:

Of these, first three WLA operators have already launched their services and Vakrangee Limited is likely to commence its service shortly.

Background

In June 2012, the Reserve Bank of India issued policy guidelines permitting non-bank entities to set up and operate WLAs in the country after seeking the Reserve Bank’s authorisation under the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007. Prior to this, only banks were permitted to set up and operate ATMs in India.

The primary objective of permitting non-banks to operate WLAs was to enhance the spread of ATMs in semi-urban and rural areas (mainly in tier III to VI areas), where bank-owned ATM penetration was not growing. Under the new guidelines, certain minimum number of WLAs need to be installed in these areas within a year as per the Scheme opted by the respective operator.

Alpana Killawala

Principal Chief General Manager

White Label ATM authorisation expands non-bank operators to improve ATM access in underserved areas under regulatory guidelines. Regulatory authorisation was granted to four non-bank entities to establish and operate White Label ATMs, allowing non-bank participation in ATM deployment under the payment-systems regulatory framework. Three operators have launched services and the fourth is expected to commence soon. The policy aims to expand ATM access in semi-urban and rural tier areas by requiring each operator to install a minimum number of WLAs within a year according to its chosen rollout scheme.