Hyderabad: The chests in most banks including SBH, SBI and Andhra Bank were empty by Friday afternoon with many of them allowing only deposits and denying withdrawal or exchange of old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.
The RBI promised the bankers on Friday during a video conference that Rs 4000 crore would be supplied to the state on November 24. Bankers say that the situation would continue in the state till sufficient funds arrived.
Due to insufficient funds, the rush at banks has come down and over 70 per cent of ATMs in the state did not work. Chests emptied at about 650 banks and branches out of 1,000 in the city on Friday. “No Cash” signs were up by afternoon in many branches.
A few banks managed withdrawals with lower denomination notes like Rs 10 and Rs 20 from the deposits but the exchange counters at majority banks were closed by afternoon.
Secretary for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Bank Employees Federation (APTBEF) M.S. Kumar said that the situation would get worse from Saturday with exchange counters likely to be closed. Only senior citizens would be allowed. “The situation of bank staff was bad at all the branches with some customers losing patience and picking an argument. Those who got Rs 2,000 denominations demanded smaller notes,” he said.
Secretary for All India Bank Employees’ Association (AIBEA), Mr B. Seetha Rambabu said, “Even the main branches of many banks closed withdrawal counters by 4 pm due to insufficient cash.”
People expressed their anger at many branches. At the HDFC Bank, Nagole, a family held a protest for not getting money for marriage purpose. Meanwhile, third-party agencies have begun the recalibration at a few ATMs.
Besides this, employees from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) visited few old-age homes in the city to assist the inmates in exchanging old currency. At an old-age home near Padmarao Nagar, the staff exchanged about Rs 30,000.
HPCL’s spokesperson Mr Naik said that from Saturday, the staff would assist senior citizens and other bank customers at few banks in filling forms, supplying water and providing chairs outside banks.
