Claim: Pakistan has announced “new” ATM rules, which include limits on and revised charges for transactions.
Fact: Pakistan did not announce any new ATM rules. The reports by multiple local outlets are clickbait and actually about changes introduced by India’s central bank.
On 21 and 22 April 2026, multiple Pakistani media outlets reported on the “new” rules for automated teller machine (ATM) users that would lead to “big changes” regarding transaction “limits and revised charges” (archived here, here, here, here, and here, respectively).
Fact or Fiction?
The media outlets have used clickbait tactics to lure users as neither of the reports are about Pakistan.
The reports by the Pakistani outlets are about changes introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) — the central bank — limiting the number of free transactions and varying charges regarding ATM use, according to a 21 April 2026 blogpost by Paytm, the neighbouring country’s “largest digital payment app”.
The new rules apply to “select Indian banks” and would impact “withdrawal limits, transaction charges, and UPI-based cash withdrawals”, according to The Logical Indian. Here, “UPI” refers to an instant payment system called “Unified Payments Interface”.
The same has been outlined in a 30 March 2026 blog by India’s JM Financial Services Ltd and reported by multiple outlets, such as NDTV, WION, Moneycontrol.com, and Zee Business.
Had there been such a development here, it would have been announced by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).
However, the country’s central bank has made no such announcement on its website, social media pages or the dedicated WhatsApp channel.
Moreover, in Pakistan, there’s no concept of different ATM fees for “metro” and “non-metro” cities.
The current system charges a 0.8% withholding tax for cash withdrawals upwards of PKR 75,000 by those who are not on the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) Active Taxpayer List (ATL), according to a report from 14 June 2025.
Additionally, any individual who uses the ATM of a bank they are not a customer of is charged PKR 35 per transaction. The daily limit on cash withdrawal varies from bank to bank and the type of card the customer owns.
Therefore, Soch Fact Check concludes that the claim is false and Pakistani outlets have used misleading clickbait headlines.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the claim circulating here, here, here, here, here, here, and here on Facebook, here, here, here, and here on Instagram, and here on X (formerly Twitter).
It was also shared here on YouTube.
The Pakistani outlets’ reports can be found on their websites here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: Pakistan did not announce any new ATM rules. The reports by multiple local outlets are actually about changes introduced by India’s central bank and have used clickbait to mislead people.
Background image in cover photo: Erik Mclean
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