Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were facing the worst currency crunch as most of the ATMs have run dry in major cities and towns.
It is a throwback to the dark days of late 2016 when the sudden demonetisation of 1000 and 500 value notes by the central government had left the people high and dry and bank account holders had to wait in queue for hours to get a few notes.
The current shortage which started a few weeks back has now worsened as most of the ATM booths were flashing the message of "No currency".
Such is the shortage of currency notes that the Reserve Bank of India has already brought in additional 2000 crore from other states. While Rs 1200 crore was brought in Mumbai, remaining was pumped in from Kerala, Odisha and Tamil Nadu.
Among the various reasons for this sudden crisis, most notable was the admission of the RBI officials that there was a sharp decline in circulation of cash. "People are withdrawing the money from the banks but the fresh deposits have come down to a trickle", an official said. Officials said that the people appear to be holding back the cash.