NEW DELHI -- You can now withdraw ₹2,000 from certain petrol pumps starting Friday by swiping your debit card. This facility will be available at 2,500 petrol pumps across the country.
"It has been decided that an amount up to ₹2,000 per day per person in cash can be dispensed against swiping of debit card from select petrol pumps where point of sale (PoS) machines of SBI are already available," an official told PTI.
PoS machines are the machines which are generally used for debit or credit card transactions.
Where Are These Petrol Pumps?
You can withdraw cash at some petrol pumps run by public sector companies like Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum which have SBI card machines. They will swipe your debit card and give you ₹2,000 in one day. These three petrol companies run most of India's 56,190 fuel outlets.
Over the next three days, the government is planning on increasing the scope of this to over 20,000 other petrol pumps which have HDFC, Citibank, and ICICI bank card machines. This facility will continue even after 24 November, which is the deadline for using old currency notes at petrol pumps.
It was the All India Petroleum Dealers Association (AIPDA) which suggested this plan to the government. "We wrote to the prime minister on 14 November to apprise him of the situation at petrol pumps and our willingness to help mitigate people's cash woes," AIPDA president Ajay Bansal told The Times of India. "We have never shied away from serving any national cause. We are happy to assist the government in its fight against black money and terror funding."
(with PTI inputs)