Noida ATMs continue to run dry three months after note ban
Cash supply through ATMs is yet to be normalised even three months after the demonetisation of ₹500, ₹1,000 notes was announced. Residents said they are frustrated as they have to wait in long queues that continue to persist outside some banks.
Cash supply through ATMs is yet to be normalised even three months after the demonetisation of ₹500, ₹1,000 notes was announced. Residents said they are frustrated as they have to wait in long queues that continue to persist outside some banks.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the demonetisation move on November 8. The Union government had announced that the move was to fight corruption and retrieve the black money. Following the move, banks and ATMs ran out of cash across the country with long queues of people waiting to withdraw their money.
In Noida, several ATMs ran dry after November 8 and long queues were formed, from early morning, outside the ones where cash was available. Modi, in a public rally, had promised that the woes of people across the nation will end after 50 days.
But even three months after the demonetisation, there seems to be no relief as several ATMs continue to remain non-functional. “I live in Sector 27 and hardly one out of 15 ATMs in the vicinity has cash. There are no working ATMs in Jaipuria Mall, Ganga shopping complex, Sector 27, Brahmaputra complex, Nithari, Sector 26 and Sector 37 markets. I had to go to the Sector 18 market to withdraw cash,” Monika Gupta of Sector 27 said.
Barring a few ATMs in the Sector 18 market and a few in Sector 12, ATMs continue to remain out of cash, even in the industrial areas in sectors 62, 63 and 60.
“I found one ATM in Sector 58 market that was working but there was a long queue. I visited the ATM after two hours only to find that it had run out of cash,” Rishabh Srivastava, a Delhi resident who works in Sector 58, said.
AK Singh, the lead bank manager of Gautam Budh Nagar, said that the situation of banks in the district has not improved much. He said that an improvement can be expected once there is more clarity on cash withdrawals and deposits.
“There are a few banks such as Oriental Bank of Commerce, Punjab National Bank and Syndicate Bank that have been worst hit. The main reason is that there is only one source of cash supply, which is RBI Kanpur. I think the situation will improve once the RBI and government get clear on the rules,” Singh said.
District Magistrate NP Singh took cognizance of the situation and said that the district administration will do its best to improve cash supply in ATMs and banks.
“I will call a meeting of regional bank managers of banks and instruct them to do the needful, in the interests of the public. I will also prepare a list of banks that have been facing acute cash crisis,” Singh said.