Currency crunch: People woe continue as long queues at banks, ATMs

When he didn’t find enough traction, he switched his talk to exchanging of cash saying he had 2.5 lakh rupees at home in notes of 500 and 1000, which now he would have to get deposited and what an arduous task it would be.

Mumbai/Hyderabad: The scramble for cash spawned by demonetisation a week ago assumed frantic proportions on Tuesday as people descended outside banks in droves in the wee hours fearing ATMs may run dry and another death of an elderly man standing in queue being reported from Hyderabad. “So, I got our mobile ATM, which serves Bengaluru Rural customers, pressed into service”. People are anxious as well as confused about their money, making the last couple of days chaotic as everyone is thronged to banks and ATMs.

There was no major change in the Rs 1,000 notes ever since it was introduced in the year 2000 while changes in the Rs 500 notes, which was launched in 1987, were done more than a decade ago.

“Others gathered in no time and it became a long queue”. The banks usually decide on the software logic behind the dispensing of cash.

This is just one bank, in one city, in a country of 1.3 billion people, millions of them increasingly desperate for cash amid a chaotic government effort to crack down on corruption by banning high-denomination currency notes.

Rs 20, Rs 50 Notes: Today SBI Chief Arundhati Bhattacharya announced that the ATMs will soon start dispensing Rs 20 and Rs 50 notes after the rush at ATM counters decreases. “Once this happens in a week, the cash flow in the market would be more than sufficient”, said a senior RBI official seeking anonymity.

With acute shortage of Rs 100 notes, the ATMs are likely to be dead machines for quite some time, which would add to the ire of the people and this anger is bound to be shown on the branch staff thus making their life further miserable, they said. This waiver is valid on transactions made at ATMs from 10 November 2016 to 30 December 2016. About 18 crore bank transactions are said to have taken place in that four-day period that already had banks struggling to keep up with the sudden demand to replace old notes. In tandem, the share price of the bank has gained 6.8 percent (calculated from closing price of Rs 259.75 on November 9) and closed at Rs 277.55 on Tuesday on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). The existence of this parallel system means that a large portion of the economy goes untaxed.

Addressing a public rally in Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said that as a result of demonetising 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, the poor were sleeping well and those who had unaccountd money were buying sleeping pills.