Chennai based Vortex Engineering has introduced a special ATM built solely for the rural regions.
The ATM called Gramateller, was initially built for the rural people, but its advanced features may make it suitable for the urban areas too.
The plan for building an ATM specifically for rural India took shape nearly a decade ago when the founder of Vortex, R Kannan, along with his colleagues began working on tactics to develop technology appropriate for the rural areas.
This pilot project started in rural parts near Madurai. Mr Kannan said, “Acceptance was good but the ATM was too expensive for places with low footfalls such as rural and semi-urban areas”.
Traditional ATMs require around 1,800 units of electricity per month, but Gramateller needs 72 units, according to Vijay V Babu, CEO, Vortex. The ATM uses Linux. It also has an built-in UPS, which lets it withstand power cuts and can also use solar energy.
Also the ATMs have biometric fingerprint authentication technology and can distribute soiled notes. Babu said, “India has an installed base of around 45,000 ATMs – the ideal ratio is 1 ATM for every 1000 people. So, to even get to 1 ATM for every 10,000 people, India would need over 1 lakh ATMs more”.