ATMs of state-run and private banks in several states including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana,
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh ran completely dry on Tuesday, fuelling fears of a “demonetisation-like” cash crunch and instigating panic withdrawals.
Telangana was the worstaffected with over 48% of its 8,500 ATMs cashless, according to the National Informatics Centre. Regional office of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it would soon supply additional currency. SBI chief general manager Swaminathan J said, “With RBI’s permission, we will airlift currency from cash-surplus states.
I can’t reveal at this moment the states.” The AP government questioned the long-prevailing cash crunch, days after chief minister
Chandrababu Naidu said people were losing faith in the banking system. State IT minister Nara Lokesh said Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who assured that the phenomenon was temporary, had failed to understand the ground reality. “It is very sad that FM Jaitley is not understanding the reality and saying everything is good. We are not able to give pensions and pay MGNREGA workers,” he tweeted.
Madhya Pradesh finance minister Jayant Malaiya, while admitting the state was facing severe cash crunch, offered a “simple solution”: “Withdraw less cash (from ATMs) and use e-transactions.” The finance minister’s admission comes a day after chief minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan smelled a “conspiracy.” “Today, Rs 16.5 lakh crore worth currency notes have been printed and circulated. But where are the Rs 2,000 notes vanishing? This is a conspiracy… We are in contact with the Centre,” Chouhan said.
In Bihar, a Patna event management firm said weddings were getting postponed because of cash unavailability. In Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi, SBI was the first one to put up ‘temporarily out of cash’ boards at their ATMs. As the day progressed, other banks followed suit, generating panic among customers.
State Level Bankers Committee Jharkhand chairman, Prasad Joshi said, “We received a message from the Union finance ministry saying they were looking into the matter. It will be fixed by Wednesday.” A manager at Agra city branch of
Punjab National Bank said, “For the past few days, we are getting up to 40% less cash than we need. Since our priority is to ensure branches do not have shortage, ATMs have not been refilled.”
Though the crunch was not felt in
West Bengal, anxiety was stoked by TV reports. A tweet by CM Mamata Banerjee also heightened concerns. “Seeing reports of ATMs running out of cash in several states. Big notes missing. Reminder of Demonetisation days. Is there a Financial Emergency going on in the country?” Banerjee tweeted, following which queues were seen at several ATMs.