Banks not being able to dispense Rs. 24,000 at one go or the money wanted to be withdrawn by customers proved a hardship for pensioners.
The cash crunch continued in various branches on the first day of the month that came after demonetisation.
While banks restricted the withdrawal limit at some branches it is too inadequate to meet the needs of pensioners. Some ran out of cash and had to wait for bringing more from the currency chest.
Those who came to some of the bank branches were disappointed that they could not withdraw the amount they wanted to cover monthly expenses.
Former MES employee P. Paidiraju came to the St. Ann’s School branch of Andhra Bank where the ATM had no cash. “I need at least Rs. 15,000 for my monthly expenses but the bank authorities told me because of lack of cash they will give only Rs. 2,000,” he said. A retired Sub-Inspector Nagabhushana Rao was unhappy that the assured Rs. 24,000 was not given. “Even if the cash was available in the afternoon, only Rs.10,000 would be given and how many times we need to come to the bank?” he asked.
Another retired MES employee T. Sitaramaiah was also not happy with getting only Rs. 2,000 and refused to take it.
At the SBI branch at Gopalapatnam, the upper limit was Rs. 10,000. “Otherwise we can not meet the daily demand that run into crores,” said manager V. Satyanarayana. SBI Maharanipeta branch scaled down its payment to Rs. 5,000 to each customer.
The Pithapuram Colony branch of Andhra Bank ran out of cash in the morning. “Since yesterday around Rs. 24 lakh had been given to customers and in the morning we ran out of cash,” said manager K. Tirumala Kumar. With a good number of pensioners holding accounts the amount was raised to Rs.10,000 on Thursday. Only after the cash had been received after a break of about half an hour transactions began.
Senior citizens had to either stand in queues or postpone drawing cash. Retired postal employee K. Lakshmana Rao went home without encashing his cheque around 1 p.m. not able to stand in the queue at Indian Bank. He complains about pension not being given at the Sitammdhara post office. However, he withdrew cash in three instalments after November 8. The 85-year-old is supportive of the Prime Minister’s demonetisation and terms problems temporary.
For retired port employee L. Narayana Rao the problem was different. His account was not seeded with Aadhaar because of which he could not update his account.
