ATM operation and cash management agencies on Wednesday were added to the list of services exempted from the 21-day national lockdown.
The move will ensure that ATMs are refilled and they do not run out of cash.
In another movie, the finance ministry on Tuesday had decided to waive off any surcharge for withdrawal of money from ATMs not belonging to one’s home bank.
The ministry on Wednesday also said that several other services—veterinary hospitals, pharmacies including Jan Aushadhi Kendra, IT vendors for banking operations, shops for seeds and pesticides, manufacturing units for drugs, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, their raw materials, packaging material for food items, cross land
border movements of LPG, food products and medical supplies—to the list of exempted or essential services.
The directives have been issued for implementation by states and the Union Territories under the Disaster Management Act (DMA).
On the other hand, the police in several states held meetings on Wednesday with online suppliers of essential items including food and provisions and assured them that their employees will be issued passes to move freely for delivery purposes.