Friday, 11 November 2016

Serpentine queues outside ATMs, most run cash-dry -The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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11 November 2016

The general public faced severe hardship in many parts of the country in getting the demonetised currency notes exchanged. This is a round-up from three states:
Despite assurances by the Union Finance Ministry and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) of "sufficient currency notes", most ATMs here and in some other parts of Uttar Pradesh went dry on Friday.

People standing in serpentine queues outside bank branches and ATM kiosks got rowdy at some places while at others they openly aired their disappointment. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Although the ATMs opened on Friday after a gap of two days, many remained cashless. Security guards at these ATMs faced a tough time explaining the situation to angry customers.

Most of these customers said they had urgent needs and emergencies requiring immediate money. 

The RBI office in Gomtinagar here was flooded with people who had more questions to ask but no cash to take away. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Police presence was increased at important banks and ATMs following the huge public turnout. 

Senior officials said they stepped up security at most places as they feared the crowd might turn unruly in case the people were unsuccesful in withdrawing money from banks.

Reports of minor spats between bank customers and security officials at ATMs came in from some parts of western UP. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Small traders and common people were facing severe hardship after demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes even though ATMs opened on Friday after a two-day closure.

Long queues were witnessed at banks and ATMs as people rushed to get new bank notes. However, they faced difficulties in withdrawing money at hundreds of ATMs in Bhubaneswar and other cities as many ATMs ran out of cash in a couple of hours. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Lakhs of people were disappointed as thousands of ATMs did not dispense cash. Adding to the woes, some ATMs were still closed, said sources.

"I had gone to the bank on Thursday and stood in the queue for hours. When my turn came, the bank manager said that the new notes were finished by that time. Now, the ATMs have no cash. I don't know what to do as I have no money," said Ranjan Samal, an engineering student studying in a Bhubaneswar college. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The few people who succeeded in withdrawing money also faced problems in exchanging them in the markets for smaller denomination notes like Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20 and Rs 10.

"Small businesses like medicine stores and roadside food stalls are not accepting high denomination notes. The local buses and auto-rickshaws are also not accepting them. Even though I managed to withdraw money from an ATM, I cannot eat anything nor travel," said Biswajit Rout, a resident of Bhubaneswar. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"Our business has been affected due to the demonetisation. We hardly transact any business as we don't have small denominations. People are coming with Rs 500 notes and we don't have change. The problem will persist till the demand and supply gap in floating cash is bridged," Odisha Byabasayi Mahasangha (traders' body) General Secretary Sudhakar Panda said.

 ATM outlets of many private banks in Kolkata remained closed or had boards reading 'out of order' on Friday, three days after demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

Bank branches, which had resumed operations a day before, saw a more than three-time increase in footfall and an almost five-fold rise in transactions as customers rushed to deposit, exchange and withdraw money. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

People, who were expecting to draw the much-needed cash from the ATMs, which were slated to resume operations from Thursday midnight, braced up for another day without money as several outlets of even SBI were closed near the all-important location of Sealdah Railway Station on Friday morning.

"The ATMs in the vicinity of my residence are closed. I was hopeful that ATM outlets at a busy station like Sealdah would be working. Now I am in a fix," lamented a passenger, who has to undertake a two-hour journey daily to get to his place of work. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

As per the rule imposed by the Reserve Bank of India, each ATM card can be used to withdraw a maximum of Rs 2,000 in a day. However, the surcharge on ATM cards beyond five transactions a month has been waived for the time being. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

Even some of the ATMs which were open, ran dry after a few hours, angering people who had queued up before the machines hours earlier. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

The pace everywhere was sluggish. Customers were not certain whether they would be able to make use of the ATMs due to high demand. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

"I am worried that ATMs might soon go out of cash as many have brought multiple cards with them to withdraw money," said a man, waiting in front of an outlet for more than a hour.

According to bankers, it would take more than a week to completely flush out scrapped currencies from the ATM outlets across the country and fill them with usable denominations.

"It would take almost 10 days to bring normalcy in ATM operations", said SBI chief Arundhati Bhattacharya. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions


Though some people in the queues commended the central government's move to curb black money in the country, almost everyone agreed that their dash for cash would continue for at least a few more days. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions

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