We have entered into the third week of demonetization of higher currency notes and there is increasing struggle to get the cash out of the ATM machines and banks. Since the announcement, the calibration of ATM machines have repeatedly been performed. But, on Tuesday, the machines faced constant technical glitches because of which people had to return back without any cash in hand.
Since last 15 days, there was a trail of long queues in front of ATMs. But, all of a sudden, all came to a pause when there was no cash available in the ATM machines. Simultaneously, the ATM machines which were refilled with cash, witnessed stretched queues in front of them. This is one evidence of heavy cash crunch in the market which is stabbing the common people.
As per the officials statement, banks are in constant struggle to get the cash from RBI. The currency chests are running totally out of means. For banks the situation got so thrifty that, some of the branches had to pay the amount in the form of coins to their customers. Anil Mehta, a private bank employee mentioned that, ” There is some serious situation emerging. People so far were ok standing in long queues. Now, even they are losing patience”. Sources are quoting that, the main issue is arising because RBI has failed in getting the consignment on time. The RBI officials have refused to do any considerable comments on the issue and just have mentioned that there is sufficient money available. Though, we can hardly think of buying the statement.
A bank official posted as vice-president mentioned that, ” Liquidity is the major problem. Withdrawals are not happening while ATMs that are close to branch are getting refilled once in two days”. Apart from that, ATM servers are incapable of bearing the sudden high load and are running down very frequently. Because of this issue, even if there is enough cash in the ATM machines, the users are not able to dispense the amount. The whole situation has put a substantial effect on normal business activities. Especially, the supply chains of small, medium and large companies wrecked. The most affected area from the cash crunch is the small business section in the country. Buses, rickshaws, small shops, food stalls that are totally based on their cash earnings are going through a scenario of ordeal.
