ATMs go empty again in Hyderabad

​Hyderabad: Reminding citizens of the post demonetisation days, several ATMs in the city, including those attached to respective banks, have gone dry for the past one week posing problems to public.

The ‘no cash’ days seem to be prevailing in Telugu states where people can only use the ATMs to check their account balance.

The first week of every month witnesses people thronging ATM centres to withdraw money. But, apart from one or two ATMs none are working. Many ATM machines are not able to dispense Rs 2000 notes as they are not updated yet.

People are experiencing anxious moments wondering if the post-demonetisation days are repeating. In Cyberabad, there are 1,370 ATMs and 788 bank branches, while there are 2,150 ATMs and 1,150 bank branches in Hyderabad.

Since November last year, 60 per cent of ATMs in the twin cities are not working and ‘out of service’ boards are promptly displayed outside the ATM centres. This is because the machines are still not updated to dispense Rs 2000 notes.

Talking to The Hans India, a bank employee residing at Kukatpally Housing Board Colony said that he was visiting various ATM centres to withdraw money for the past three days but in vain.

An irritated employee asked how he can discharge his duty when he was preoccupied with visiting various ATM centres to withdraw money. Bank officials reasoned that the situation had arisen because employees were withdrawing their full salary or large amount of funds from the ATMs in the very beginning of the month.

The bank officials are lamenting that the public is not depositing Rs 2000 notes in the bank. In the post-demonetisation scenario, Rs 2000 notes worth Rs 50,000 crore were brought into circulation by the authorities. While the banks account for Rs 2000 notes worth Rs 9000 crore, the rest, worth more than Rs 40,000 crore remain untraced.

By: Satheesh Kumar Vempati