Cash crunch continued to persist in the rural parts of the district even as the city banks witnessed a marked fall in the number of people queuing up to get their demonetised currency notes exchanged or to withdraw cash on Thursday.
Exasperated over the shortage in adequate currency supply, several residents of suburbs and rural areas are left with no option but to depend on banking facilities in the city.
“The ATMs in rural places either remained empty or non-functional for most part of the day. The problem existed despite there being several bank account holders. The facility to exchange notes at post offices has been beneficial. It is unfortunate that the authorities have prevented cooperative banks from exchanging demonetised notes. The move has affected several families in rural regions,” said P. Suseelan from Neyyattinkara, who is an employee at the Secretariat.
The indelible ink made an entry in a few banks in the city, on Thursday. Bottles containing 5 ml of the ink have begun to reach the banks from its manufacturer in Karnataka. While the application of the ink is intended to prevent currency note exchange by the same person on multiple occasions, banking officials fear that the delay in ensuring its adequate supply to all institutions concerned, including post offices, could defeat the purpose.
“Moreover, as multiple identity cards were allowed to be produced for exchanging the notes, there is a possibility that some people could have attempted to queue up again. Besides the fact that many have not linked their identification documents with Aadhaar cards, some were using ID cards issued by government departments and public-sector units during the initial days of the ongoing exercise. These were possible loopholes that had to be addressed by the authorities,” an official said.
The low availability of low-denomination notes continued to affect transactions in banks and ATMs. While assurances have been made to circulate Rs.500 currency notes in the State within a week, officials were yet to receive a confirmation. Fearing the shortage of notes, many people have resorted to hoard money, officials feel.
