Tamil Nadu to get more coin-vending machines

65 machines, set up by eight banks, installed at various branches in Chennai

Be it at markets, bus and railways stations, or other busy public places in the city, coin-vending machines (CVMs) are set to make life easier for traders and the public.

Following a push from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), public sector lenders along with private and foreign banks are gearing up to install CVMs in their branches and in public places for exchange of currency notes with coins.

A total of 65 CVMs were inaugurated at various bank branches across Chennai recently.

These CVMs were installed by eight banks — Indian Overseas Bank (24), Indian Bank (15), State Bank of India (10), Canara Bank (5), Bank of India (5), Axis Bank (4), Standard Chartered Bank (1) and TNSC bank (1).

The banks will soon install CVMs in other parts of the State and the Union Territory of Puducherry, and the initiative is expected to help address the problem of coin shortage.

Already, there are 120 CVMs installed by various banks across the State. “Another 85 CVMs are to be installed in Tamil Nadu (excluding Chennai) and Puducherry in the coming months. With the CVM initiative, exchange of currency notes for coins will be available at the doorstep, to the public. It will help both people and banks save time,” said J. Sadakkadulla, regional director, RBI.

The machines will scan the inserted note, verify its genuineness and dispense coins of an equal value. The coins will be available in denominations of Re. 1, Rs. 2 Rs. 5 and Rs. 10, of which any two or three denominations will be dispensed.

Banks are being incentivised for installing CVMs in branches and important places. “We have to ensure 100 per cent uptime of CVMs to make this initiative successful,” said M. Narendra, chairman and managing director, Indian Overseas Bank.