news details |
|
|
| SBI to set up ATMs at 681 stations | | |
New Delhi, Aug 4 : India's largest bank -- the State Bank of India -- will set up automatic teller machines (ATMs) at 681 railway stations across the country, making travelling in trains a much smoother affair and qualitatively upgrading the profile of passenger amenities.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed here today between Mr H V Sharma, Executive Director (Passenger Marketing), Railway Board, and Mr Ravi Kaul, General Manager (ATM), SBI, in the presence of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram.
Under the deal, the SBI will be allowed to set up ATMs for a period of five years, while the Railways' coffers will swell by Rs 10.5 crore annually. The SBI will also set up ticketing kiosks at stations. Passengers will be able to buy unreserved tickets from the ATMs, which will act as a vending machine.
The SBI will provide ticketing facility through internet kiosk by installing computers at 383 major stations in association with Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC).
ATMs at all the 681 stations will be installed within 15 months of the signing of the MoU. Out of 681 station 298 are small stations without having ATM facility at present.
The policy for installation of ATMs at railway stations was hammered out in 2001. In five years time around 150 ATMs have so far been installed at major stations.
The Railways, on its part, will provide six sq m space to the SBI for setting up an ATM while tha ATM having facility for providing tickets, would be given 1.5 sqm extra space.
The signing of the deal was delayed by a month because the Railway Ministry had earlier insisted that the SBI transfer the cash collected at stations through sale of tickets and other activities to the railway treasury.
With the SBI showing its opposition to the move, the ministry later agreed not to insist on the demand, paving the way for the signing of the deal.
The SBI had set up its first ATM at a station in the country at Ernakulam in May 2002. The then Minister of State for Railways O.
Rajagopal had inaugurated it.
The ATM will provide not only banking facilities to railway users but also season tickets and unreserved tickets. In fact, the season ticket facility has already been introduced in Mumbai.
There are more than 8,000 railway stations in the country, including 681 ''A'' class stations, serving over 16 million passengers a day. Initially, ATMs will be set up at 'A' and 'B' class stations.
Ministers of State for Railways R. Velu and Naranbhai J. Rathwa, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Railway Board Chairman J P Batra and SBI Chairman O P Bhatt were also present on the occasion.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
