People face currency issues as many ATMs run out of cash in parts of Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh Bureau: A majority of ATMs that were supposed to resume functioning to dispense cash from Friday morning remained shut in cities, towns and mandal headquarters across the state. Users in Vizag, Guntur, Vijayawada, Nellore, Kurnool and other parts of Andhra Pradesh were stranded and are struggling to provide basic necessities now that the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes have ceased to be legal tender and have been replaced by new notes that were to be disbursed by banks and their ATMs from Friday.
Banking authorities say that ATMs will be operational from Friday evening or night as cash courier agencies are yet to load the cash in the ATMs. Banks also had to deal with the mad rush as people flocked to exchange or deposit old notes and draw new ones.
Only 30 per cent of the 700-odd ATMs of various banks disbursed cash on Friday in Visakhapatnam city, mostly Rs 100 notes. Even ATMs that had cash ran out of it within an hour of opening as each ATM got just Rs 2 lakh.
“Due to technical problems such as software and lack of special bins for new Rs 2,000 currency notes, majority of ATMs were closed. We are hopeful that the problem will be sorted out within two days and all ATMs will be dispensing cash from Monday” said D. Sarath Babu, Lead Bank manager.
Very few ATMs functioned in Nellore. State Bank of India officials said that they had started loading Rs 100 notes from Friday evening in their ATMs.
The bank also mobilised more Rs 100, Rs 50 and Rs 20 denomination notes for distribution since people need change. The quantity of the new Rs 2,000 notes they received did not meet the demand.
With banks generally unable to meet the demands of customers and the shutdown of ATMs, there was palpable anger among people and arguments with bank authorities at several places in the state.
In Vijayawada city and surrounding areas people thronged to banks and post offices to exchange their old currency but to their dismay banks accepted only deposits and gave limited exchange of notes. Banks asked those who did not have accounts with them to furnish their Aadhaar cards.
A few banks considered requests from those who had special requirements like an impending marriage. These customers were asked to provide wedding cards as proof and allowed to withdraw '50,000.
In Guntur, many had to return empty handed from ATMs as a majority of the outlets remained closed or were drained of cash.
“We had to stand in long queues at bank branches for more than three hours to exchange money as we were in need of cash to manage day-to-day household expenses,” said housewives B. Lakshmi Bai and Y. Sirisha
It was the same story in Kurnool. Kirana shops and super markets in several parts of the city like NR Pet, Venkataramana colony, C Camp and B Camp areas, and the old city had to turn down customers who went with debit and credit cards, as they did not have the facility. Kirana and even paan shops in the city are planning to get swipe cards to cater to the demand.
