ATMs Turning Cashless as Supply Fails to Meet Demand in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Bank customers were seen running from pillar to post as most of the ATMs in the state were not working following shortage of currency notes.

While some ATMs have put up a notice saying “No Cash”, others were seen with notices like “ATM Under Maintenance,” “Not Working” and so on.

It is said that private sector bank ATMs have enough cash when compared to public sector banks, but cash at private bank ATMs run out within few hours of the deposit.

According to sources, lack of availability of currency notes was due to the decline in printing of notes. It is said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) printing press which used to work round the clock in three shifts before demonetization, at present worked only for a single shit, thus printing limited number of notes.

It is said that Canara Bank required around Rs 200 crore on a daily basis to deposit in its 800 ATMs in and around Bengaluru, but at present, the bank received only Rs 40 to Rs 50 crore every two weeks.

A huge demand and supply gap has been created in the country post demonetization. Earlier, customers withdrew cash as per needs, but now have begun withdrawing huge amounts at a time as banks have introduced transaction charges on cashless money transfer.