Even after four months of demonetization, Automated Trailer Machines (ATMs) in the city are still running either short of or out of Rs 500 currency notes. None out of over a dozen ATMs of almost every other bank at locations, including Kokar Chowk, Main Road, Kanke Road and Ratu Road was found dispensing Rs 500 currency notes on Thursday, leaving visitors disappointed and irked.
“It’s almost a month now that I was lucky to get a public sector bank ATM dispensing Rs 500 notes. But since then, none of the ATMs around my walking reach has been found having such notes. Earlier, we used to see a notice board hanging with ATM, saying that the machine dispenses only Rs 2,000 notes. But now even that board has disappeared and guards speak the rest,” said one Nitin Kumar, a resident of Kokar area who had made an attempt of withdrawing less than Rs 2,000 from any of the ATMs around him on Thursday.
Ironically, the banks which have remained unhesitant to expose their desperation over imposing a number of fresh fees on the name of service charges to visitors in branch or at ATMs have appeared completely clueless about how long this shortage of Rs 500 currency notes would go. Many of the public sector bank officials were found coming up with contradictory versions on the issue.
“Until people stop holding Rs 500 notes they have fetched from ATMs so far and start releasing in the market, the situation is more likely to remain the same, because Reserve Bank of India (RBI) supplies currencies based on overall transaction of the banks. The problem is that many people still believe in the rumours that Rs 2,000 currency notes might be taken back by the government soon, they have hoarded their cash in Rs 500 denominations,” Said Punjab National Bank DGM SK Pradhan.
At the same time, Canara Bank DGM Debananda Sahoo claimed that people wouldn’t hesitate to release Rs 500 currency notes now after all the limits of withdrawal from accounts have been lifted on March 13. “Earlier, people were holding smaller currencies because there was a withdrawal limit. Now that all these limits have been lifted, and also supply of Rs 500 notes is nearly equivalent to the demands,” said Sahoo.
At the same time, Allahabad Bank DGM SK Singh called it only a matter of few weeks now. “Things have been settling down. Cashless transaction is also gearing up and people have started taking cashless route seriously. Once Rs 500 currency notes distributed till now gets circulated in the market properly, scarcity will no longer be there,” said Singh.