Long queues in front of banks, ATMs

On the eighth day on Wednesday since the Centre announced demonetisation of high-value currencies, the same picture of winding queues in front of the banks and ATMs unfolded as the day wore on, with some bank branches unable to dispense cash to customers.

Several bank branches at the central business district of Dalhousie in the city were only accepting deposits, but were unable to give away cash, going dry soon after opening in the morning.

“I stood in the queue for over two hours, only to be told by a bank official that reserves of currency notes at the branch have dried up,” said Manik Sanyal, as he along with several others left the queue only to look for another bank where cash was still available.

Logistical issues are also adding up to the problem as ATMs which are going dry soon after filling up are being refilled only after several hours.

“Refilling of an ATM depends on the cash provided by a bank and the indent given by it. It all depends on the availability of cash,” Jayshankar Majumdar, HR head of cash management company CMS Infosystems Ltd told PTI.

“We have more than 100 vehicles operating within Kolkata and staff, including security staff and drivers are working round the clock to tide with the present situation,” he said.

“The pressure for refilling of ATMs are very high and given the number of vehicles and security personnel that we have for refilling, we are finding it difficult to cope with the unusual situation,” an official with cash management system company Brinks Arya, which has around 35 vehicles, said.

With Rs 2 lakhs in 100-rupee notes being filled at one go in ATMs which are yet to be recalibrated, these are going dry with only 100 people withdrawing Rs 2,000 each with one card, even as serpentine queues form as soon as word spreads that ATMs were replenished with money.

There was no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the metropolis.

“There are long queues, at some places people are getting restless, but apart from that there has been no untoward incident,” an official of the Kolkata Police said. - PTI