There were long lines outside banks in the city and most ATMs remained closed in the city on Friday, much to the chagrin of Bengalureans. While a few ATM kiosks are open in parts of the city, many do not have new notes and the people queueing up could only deposit old notes.
At a private bank in Malleshwaram, a customer was asked to pay up Rs. 15 for every Rs. 1,000 deposit made to his account. “This inspite of the fact that I have an account in another branch of the same bank,” said the customer on anonymity.
"The daily withdrawal limit of Rs. 2000 is not enough and anyway is useless if you don't get a functioning ATM. I have been standing since morning to withdraw cash from my bank," said Rohini Rao, a resident of Vijayanagar.
At another private bank in Cox Town, the public who were waiting for more than an hour were told that the bank had run out of new notes to exchange and the customers could only deposit the demonitised Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 bills. “I’ve been waiting here since morning, and now I get to know I won’t be getting any money,” said a woman in her twenties, looking dejected. Another had come to the bank after her husband, who was waiting in queue since 8 a..m., called her to bring his ID card which he had forgotten. “Lucky he managed to get inside, we were in urgent need of money,” said the woman. Guards struggled to manage the crowd.
At one ATM kiosk in Frazer Town, no money had arrived. “Money was put in yesterday but got over in an hour. More cash should be coming in at 4 p.m.,” said the guard manning the kiosk.
At the General Post Office, the public, many who were waiting for an hour and more, became restive and started arguing with officials after the latter announced that no more new currency would be dispensed.
