In a case of striking juxtaposition, “ATM” is now regularly mentioned alongside essentials other than currency. Reuters recently reported a COVID-19 hack from Vietnam, where an entrepreneur generously dispenses free rice to those who need it through a ‘Rice ATM’. Truth be told, Rice ATMs and Water ATMs predate COVID-19 and are hardly eye-popping gizoms.
That being the situation, traditional or echt-ATMs, tasked with the humdrum business of dispensing plain cash, should now do better than ever before. Banks may be under pressure to get their ATMs to stretch their adaptation lever by a few yards. Their answer seems to be mobile ATMs, not a new concept, but the differentiation lies in the number of such ATMs pressed into service, and the dogged persistence with which they head to neighbourhoods and gated communities.
However, it is still up to RWAs to see their residents are benefited by such resources. A few gated communities on Old Mahabalipuram make sure theirs do.
“Some banks, HDFC and ICICI among them, have started providing mobile ATM services. They drive around to gated communities. We ensure these mobile ATMs come into our community so that our residents don’t have to go out to withdraw cash. Hands of users are sanitised prior to ATM use,” says Satish Betrabet, secretary, Mantri Synergy Owners Association. Mantri Synergy is a 765-unit gated community in OMR. Jains Inseli Park, another community in the region is also said to be having mobile ATMs visiting their communities regularly.
Combating misinformation
Many apartment complexes and neighbourhood associations are taking measures to check misinformation and false news relating to COVID-19. Magilam Apartments at Old Pallavaram, for instance, has temporarily blocked the option for members of its WhatsApp group, other than the admins, to post any messages in it.
“WhatsApp has this feature and we activated it a week after the lockdown,” says S. Venkata Narayanan, a member and also an admin.
Before the lockdown the community had people posting all kinds of information, and some were not even verified and sifting through the messages was a challenge for the admins.
“We plan to lift this restriction once the situation normalises,” he says.
The government-owned Aarogya Setu App is another tech tool many communities are asking their residents to download and use, as it provides official information relating to COVID-19.
(With inputs by Liffy
Thomas)