HYDERABADI ATM'S RUNNING DRY (BANKERS PLAYING THE MIND GAME AND THE HYDERABADI'S GOING MAD)

With ATMs running dry on account of limited supply of cash by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), several top bank officials have said more and more people will be forced towards cashless transactions.




Before demonetisation, most of the 5,200 ATMs in the city used to hold about 5 lakh on an average, but this week, 90 per cent of the ATMs did not have any cash. Residents struggled to withdraw money from ATMs across the city on Monday as well.

   HYDERABADI ATM'S RUNNING DRY

"The government may be of the view that limiting cash supply will only push the market towards cashless economy, especially in states like Telangana where aadhaar and bank linkage is high," a top manager of a public sector bank said on conditions of anonymity.

The forced cashless transactions in the market has also tightened the circulation of hard cash, triggering cash crunch in banks. Explaining the current crisis, a manager of top private bank said, "Banks get supply of cash from RBI and also in the form of market receipts. The traders and businesses deposit their money from daily activities into banks. But due to cash crunch and increased digital transactions, the deposits have come down," he said. Banks usually depend on the receipts from from customers and load ATMs accordingly, when there is a limited cash supply.

Sources in private banks said they are analysing the situation and planning to cut down the number of ATMs "We are assessing the situation now, may be after two months we may have to take the call," said a private bank manager.