Cash crunch at ATMs and bank branches in the city has taken a great deal of joy out of Sankranti festival. The festival, which witnesses Telugus rushing to their native places to share the joy with their near and dear ones, has little to offer to the revellers.
While customers of various banks lament that the ATMs have run out of cash and the banks are giving them limited cash on the plea of shortage, the bankers admit there is a shortage but claim the situation is not that bad and hope it would return to normalcy soon.
The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill has created confusion among people during the last couple of months. Many depositors started withdrawing their FDs and other deposits, following rumours that the day was not far-off when the government could start meddling with their deposits.
There is no cash supply from the Reserve Bank. Further, the cash being supplied to customers by the banks is not coming back into circulation.
The cash receipts by many bank branches had plummeted during the last couple of months, according to sources.
Around 65% of the cash disbursals by banks, normally, come back as deposits.
Depositors seem to be worried about the FRDI Bill. .“The Andhra Bank has sufficient cash and depositors need not worry. We have 100 ATMs and a few of them may not be working due to technical problems,” Deputy General Manager E. Koti Reddy told The Hindu on Tuesday. “We are only discouraging customers from withdrawing their FDs pre-maturely,” he said when told that some banks were asking depositors the reasons for withdrawal and their apprehensions.
“There is cash shortage and with the RBI not giving fresh cash, we have to recycle the available cash. The receipts from the depositors are also poor,” regional manager Haritha Poornima told The Hindu.
