Despite claims of availability of additional Rs1,100 crores on Sundayevening, most of the ATMs across the city were found dysfunctional on Monday, adding worries to cash-starved commoners. Most of the visitors at ATMs had to go back, many of them not getting meager operational cash even on day 6 after the government announced demonetization of Rs1,000 and Rs500 denomination notes on November 8.
Those visiting to ATMs early in the morning had no other option than to return empty handed, as the cash which was claimed to have reached the city by train from Patna was not loaded in any of the ATM at night, or even early in the morning. At the same time, bank branches were closed for the day today on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti aka Guru Poornima, which directed commoners to nearest ATMs. Only SBI ATMs and a few others, those also on limited locations and capacities, were found operational in the latter half of the day until they exhausted with the cash.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, claiming to have sufficient cash availability so far, were also found joining those cursing make of the ATM cash trays for not being able to supply Rs. 2,000 notes through them. "We all know that ATMs will take some time to get their cash trays reconfigured with the size of new 2,000 rupee currency. Once this happens in a week, the cash flow in the market would be more than sufficient," said a senior RBI official seeking anonymity.
"It is just an issue of another few days. Most of the people have got operational cash either through bank branches or ATMs so far. I must tell you that there are many repeated visitors at ATMs who have been able to withdraw cash. However, the situation will be much under control as the bank branches would open on Tuesday with additional cash availability," said a Branch Manager level official of State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday.
Though none of the SiS (the company which manages most of the ATMs in city) officials said anything officially, one among them said while filling an ATM that the company was trying its best to maintain cash availability in ATMs all the time. "I guess no one had ever imagined such a huge demand. It seems people are withdrawing not as much as they require, but as much as they can. This is why even banks are probably not getting up to the marks these days," said a staff.
Echoing the same view, a senior Bank of India official claimed that demand was beyond expectations, and the bank tried to do their best. "But demand-supply is always a subjective issue. The situation is so that whatever we do, it falls short only because the demand is so high," said the official.
Unavailability of new currency notes of Rs. 2,000 denominations is also adding to the worries. Banks are reportedly said to be ready to welcome visitors with new 500 rupee notes on Tuesday. Market experts have claimed that until Rs. 500 denomination new note doesn't appear in the market, Rs. 2,000 currency would only add to the problem in absence of smaller denominations.