Chennai: Nationalised banks and nightclubs in Chennai have something in common now. Thanks to demonetisation, bank managers are now hiring bouncers to regulate crowd.
Clad in black T-shirt and jeans and wearing sports shoes, these muscled men are now manning crowds in front of city banks. With bank properties and dry ATMs facing the wrath of the public, Canara Bank (Vepery branch) recruited three bouncers to protect the property and regulate crowds thronging the branch.
“For the past 10 days, we are regulating crowds and ensuring that there is no congestion affecting banking operations. We also help customers fill their challans and provide drinking water for those standing in the queue,” said Guru who was manning the doors of Canara Bank.
When asked about crowd behaviour, he said he has been trained to handle tough situations when people are in ‘high spirits’. But manning banks is a new experience.
“In bars, handling men is tough and women easy. In banks, it is the opposite as the fairer sex keep screaming at you when the queue moves slowly,” rues another bouncer manning a private bank in T Nagar.
Banks which opened on Monday saw serpentine queues, as there were no cash transactions on Saturday and Sunday. Mobile ATMs and card-swiping teams of State Bank of India were also seen making sorties to help the public withdraw cash using debit cards.
“The top brass of our bank administration has fixed schedules for all mobile card swipe teams so that the maximum cash is given to the public to enhance cash flow,” said V. Gopinath, chief manager, State Bank of India, Guindy. SBI also reaches out to account holders of other national and private banks, he added.
