: A day after the Central government’s demonetisation rule came into effect, serpentine queues and skirmishes inside and outside banks across the National Capital Region marked Day One of exchange of banned Rs.1,000 and Rs.500 currency notes.
Scores of people stood in lines for hours in the hope of receiving some usable cash, even as several banks reported not having received any cash from the Reserve Bank of India.
Common complaint
The most common complaint was the slow pace at which bank executives went about issuing the new currency notes. Many women and the elderly appeared miffed with the absence of separate queues for them.
The long wait and confusion resulted in skirmishes and scuffles between customers themselves, and with bank staff at several banks. The police had to be called in to manage the crowd at few places, while barricades had to be put up at others. Several banks downed their shutters intermittently to keep agitated customers from forcing their way in.
‘Mismanagement’
While mismanagement was common at many banks, some branches dealt with the problem by issuing tokens to customers. Many people used this opportunity to slip away for other work till their numbers were called. However, at many centres, the bank staff indulged in long periods of recesses.
Many customers arrived with family so that someone would always stay in line if one of them had to leave briefly for necessary work. Customers exiting the banks after exchanging cash said it took anywhere between five to 10 minutes for each of them to get their work done at the counters.
The long wait also financially hurt many people, who were forced to take leave from work.
Loss of pay
“I had to take a half-day leave on Thursday. I had no option but to visit a bank and exchange money. Now I will lose half-a-day’s salary,” said Rohtash, a driver in Janakpuri.
Disappointed
In many poor areas, people had to travel as far as 2 km to reach a bank.
Many residents of Kali Basti in Vikaspuri were a disappointed lot as they had to walk back a long way after the banks announced they had run out of cash. People had begun lining up outside banks as early as 7 a.m. at many places.
“I knew there would be a huge rush, so I queued up early to exchange some old notes. Hopefully, I will be able to reach office on time after the transaction,” said Subhash Sharma, a resident of Shalimar Garden in Ghaziabad.
The long queues extended to busy roads outside the banks. Traffic management turned into a nightmare at several places. Poorly-parked vehicles outside many banks added to the woes as queues had to be split at several points.
The Delhi Police had announced on Wednesday that there would be adequate deployment to manage crowds and ensure security at banks.
While banks in places like Khan Market and Parliament Street saw police deployment, places like Janakpuri and Vikaspuri barely had any visible police presence.
At Janakpuri’s B Block Community Centre, a private security guard with a gun on his shoulder arrived with a cash-laden bag in an auto-rickshaw.
Absence of police
“I have a gun. There should be no worry,” he said, when questioned about the absence of police personnel.
At many banks, policemen were requested to hand out forms to people seeking to exchange currency notes. Otherwise, this job was given to private security guards, who also had to control the crowds. At many places, educated people helped illiterate people fill up their exchange forms.
Bank officials were seen emerging outside frequently to explain the reason behind the delay in exchange of cash. “Some customers want to deposit cash to the tune of lakhs or, in some cases, even a crore. It takes time to count all that cash,” said a bank official.
Many customers were unaware about the requirement of a photocopy of their identification document for the transaction. They had to rush to the nearest photocopy shops, providing brisk business to those shop owners. By afternoon, many banks ran out of cash.
Urgent
“I waited all morning as I needed to pay medical bills urgently. But after hours of wait, I was told that the bank had exhausted all its cash. Each passing day is getting more difficult for us,” said Ashraf, an Afghan national living in south Delhi’s Bhogal.
