Petrol pumps to dispense cash, more ATMs to be recalibrated

Select petrol pumps across the country will begin giving out banknotes to the public by letting them swipe their debit cards, the latest in a series of announcements made on Thursday to ease the cash crunch brought on by a ban on high-value currency last week.

According to the oil ministry, 2,500 outlets of Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum with SBI card-swipe machines will offer the cash service.

The facility may be expanded to 20,000 stations. “The process will begin tomorrow... and will continue till the cash availability improves,” the oil ministry source said.

Earlier, the government indicated efforts were being stepped up to make ATM machines compatible with new `500 and 2,000 banknotes, and new rules that will let banks give more people cash by tightening the limit on how much old currency can be exchanged.