The Finance Ministry said on
Saturday that the ATMs will be able to disburse new currency notes only by
early December as recalibration of the machines requires both hardware and
software modifications.

“Recalibration (requires
both software and hardware changes) of ATMs is going on, which will be
completed by end of this month or early December. Other denominations will then
be disbursed by ATMs,” a statement from Finance Ministry said.

“Presently only Rs.100
notes are being disbursed from the ATMs. Out of 2 lakh ATMs, about 1.2 lakh are
operational,” it added.

Taking stock of the issuance
of new currency notes to the public, Finance Ministry said that a total of over
seven crore transactions have taken place in less than three days after the
demonetisation was announced.

“A total of over 7 crore
transactions have taken place from November 9 up to mid-day of November 12
(i.e. in the last two and a half days) for deposit, exchange of old notes and
withdrawal from ATM and over the counter,” it said.

“Old notes of Rs.500 and
Rs.1000 denominations amounting to about Rs 2 lakh crore have been deposited to
banks,” it said.

Ministry of Finance along
with Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Indian Banks Association (IBA) and a few
major banks participated in the review meeting on Saturday to take stock of the
cash availability, it said.

“There is sufficient
cash available with RBI and Banks. They were advised step up the supply of cash
to the public,” the statement said.

The availability of cash and
issuance of cash to bank branches and post offices on a daily basis is being
constantly monitored and necessary rebalancing being done for more efficient
allocation of banknotes of requisite denominations between different areas, it
said.

To cater to the requirement
of rural areas, banks were advised to supply notes of smaller denominations (Rs
100 and less) as well as Rs.10 coins, it added.

One of the primary objectives
of cancellation of legal tender character of old series of Rs 500 and Rs 1000
notes was to check the menace of terror financing through counterfeit currency
notes. The receipt of counterfeits currency notes is being monitored closely.

RBI has been advised by the
government to set up a special cell to monitor the receipt of fake currency
notes and inform such instances to the Economic Offences Wing of the state
police, enforcement agencies of the Central Government and also to the Ministry
of Finance.

“The law enforcement
agencies have also been advised to maintain close vigil over possible movement
of fake currencies and take prompt action as and when such cases are detected
by them as well as by RBI and banks,” it said.