A reserve price for the sites is being firmed up by the state-owned transporter ahead of the auction, designed both to boost its non-fare revenue and make it convenient for passengers to withdraw cash at railway stations.
The Railways would auction the station ATM sites in the form of two packages. The first package would contain 2,175 stations which would be bid out to a particular bank which offers the highest amount for this package.
That bank will get to establish one ATM each across all these 2,175 stations. The second package consists of 408 stations which would also be bid out to a bank which makes the highest offer for this particular package.
The reason Indian Railways has divided the auction into two is to enable smaller banks to participate in the race for ATM sites. The reasoning is that small banks would be more interested in bidding for the smaller lot of cash machines.
“We expect to generate revenues of more than Rs100 crore per year from the 2,175 stations and more than Rs50 crore from the 408 stations. Many banks have already approached us as we are guaranteeing a reliable connection and safe location along with a huge foot fall of passengers” said a senior railway executive, requesting anonymity.
Railways will provide the ATMs with fibre optic connectivity rather than the usual very small aperture terminal (VSAT), a satellite communication system which allows data transfer between the ATM and its bank.
The fibre optic connectivity works faster and more efficiently than the VSAT connection. The latter is prone to delays and disruption in communications during bad weather.
