MUMBAI: Fifty days after demonetisation, queues at ATMs across the city are considerably shorter but Rs 100 notes continue to be in short supply. Since most ATMs often give out just Rs 2,000 notes, Mumbaikars have been using cards and digital payment options as far as possible.
Around 4pm on Wednesday, of the three ATMs at Axis Bank’s Marine Lines branch, one was not operational and the other two were dispensing Rs 2,000 notes. There was just one person at the ATM kiosk. A staffer said there is no fixed time in the day when Rs 100 notes are loaded into the machines.Likewise, most South Mumbai ATMs were seen dispensing Rs 2,000 notes on Wednesday, though one ATM each of HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank opposite Sterling Cinema gave out Rs 100 notes. ATMs of HDFC Bank’s Fort branch and Citibank’s on P D’Mello Road, on the other hand, had no cash. Cardholders were seen queuing up at all ATMs—IndusInd, Canara and State Bank of India—inside the CST station premises for Rs 2,000 notes.
Elsewhere in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, too, the situation was little different. In Kalyan and Ulhasnagar, for instance, most ATMs had only Rs 2,000 notes. In Navi Mumbai, ATMs continued to fall short of cash and citizens were compelled to make repeated visits to withdraw cash. Nerul’s Johnson Thomas said, “Most ATMs run dry hours after they are refilled. If we need money, we have to visit banks.”
To avoid visits to ATMs, several people are using digital ways to transact. “Looking at the lines at the ATMs, I haven’t actually gone to an ATM since November 8. I went to the bank and withdrew cash for basic expenses but I am trying to use the e-wallet at most places,” said M Sailee, a resident of Thane.
The queues are therefore shorter. “Queues increase only when money is loaded into ATMs, but even then there are only seven to eight people, not as it was earlier,” said Chinmany Ambardekar, a resident of Thane. “I am glad the queues are not long. But the banks don’t give change of Rs 2,000 notes when money is withdrawn. It becomes difficult to get it from vendors,” said Ashish Deshmukh