Kendrapara: Leaving the users high and dry, majority of ATMs have gone out of cash triggering a crisis-like situation in urban and rural areas of Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts.
ATMs are there for customers’ convenience with 24×7 withdrawal facility. However, ‘no-cash’ scribbled on a piece of paper stuck on the machines greets ATM card-holders.
Over 200 ATMs are in operation in these parts of the state. Harassed customers making rounds of a few ATMs to withdraw money have become a common sight for past one week.
On an average Rs 400 crore cash withdrawal is done every month through over 200 ATMs installed in both these districts. However, short supply of currency notes to chest banks has given rise to ‘cash-drought’, bank officials said.
In Kendrapara there are 57 ATMs. June 1, ATMs were replenished with Rs 20 crore cash, but the machines have run out of money after a week due to excessive withdrawal by customers. The bankers are flooded with complaints from customers. However, they have failed to redress grievances as the ‘chest’ bank here is not having the required cash at its disposal, said bankers.
“Our bank has been conferred chest bank status by RBI. We used to receive cash from RBI twice every month amounting to over Rs 200 crore. However, cash flow has trickled down to as low as Rs 20 to 30 crore in recent past. Operation of ATMs has become the worst casualty due to deficient cash reserve,” chief manager, SBI main branch here, Pramod Kumar Pradhan said.
“We have made repeated requests to RBI to raise cash supply to tide over the crisis. But it has not paid dividends. We have also prayed to RBI to allow us for inter-chest remittance so that we could draw cash from nearest Cuttack-based chest banks. But RBI has not permitted us to do so. As a result, situation has gone from bad to worse,” he said.
With ‘Rajo’ festival round the corner, bankers are apprehensive of facing customers’ wrath following dysfunctional state of ATMs.
“I made a round of 8 km and tried my luck at 22 ATM counters in Kendrapara township. But everywhere the ATMs had gone dry. Finally, I borrowed money from a friend for daily shopping. Later, I was forced to knock at the doors of bank to withdraw cash from the bank counter,” said an ATM card-holder, Bijoy Kumar Senapati. PTI
