ATMs go dry at several places in tricity, yet again

Ishrat S Banwait

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 22

Even after three-and-a-half month of demonetisation, it seems tricity residents are still suffering from aftershocks. In the past three days, ATMs at several places have again started running dry. Most of the ATMs, which have cash, are dispensing only Rs 2,000 notes.

If bankers are to be believed, the situation was never normalised.

Makhan Singh, manager of the State Bank of Patiala branch in Sector 8, Panchkula, said: “Even today we are receiving just 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the cash than what we require. ATMs running dry again are due to the revised withdrawal limits.”

Starting February 20, there is no limit on withdrawals for current accounts, while the limit has been changed to Rs 50,000 per week from Rs 24,000 for savings account.

No ATMs in the markets of Sectors 67, 68 and 69 of Mohali were dispensing cash this afternoon, while none of the ATMs in Sector 32, Chandigarh, had any cash. Yesterday, no ATM in Sector 16, Panchkula, had any cash, while one was dispensing only Rs 2,000 notes.

Kriti Pahuja, a resident of Sector 16, Panchkula, said: “For the past few days, the problem has been severe as no ATM near my place has any cash.” 

The situation is worse in the outskirts of the three cities as even banks in these areas do not receive enough cash.

Residents said queues subsided only last month. Long queues could be witnessed once again if cash crunch returns. On November 8 last year, currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 were demonetised and new notes of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 were launched. For more than a month, long queues were a common sight outside banks and ATMs and rarely cash was available at banks. The residents had a hard time with the new Rs 2,000 note as a problem of change emerged and Rs 500 notes were not abundantly available for a long time.

The public then faced inconvenience due to withdrawal limits and other rules that constantly kept changing. Starting Monday, the limits were eased but it has given rise to new set of problems. Huge withdrawals, especially through current accounts, have started leaving ATMs drenched.