Queues outside banks, ATMs may get longer today

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: The rush outside ATMs and banks may get heavier on Tuesday as the cash points reopen after Monday's bank holiday for Guru Nanak Jayanthi across 18 states. 

Expecting the rush, bank authorities, reportedly plan to increase the number of vans loading cash to pump into ATMs.

With banks shut on Monday, even ATMs in some places could not meet the demand for cash.

Shutters were down on many machines. As per some reports, the ATMs that were open didn’t contain notes. Only one out of 10 machines were functioning. As per Inshorts-IPSOS, survey 82 percent of Indians favour government's demonetisation drive, despite the huge inconvenience they are facing due shortage of cash in hands.

Government on its part, has undertaken emergency measures on a fire-fighting mode to disburse cash to common public in every nook and corner of the country by focusing on the exercise of dispensing cash in rural areas through its network of Banking Correspondents and Post Offices, as well as bolster the ATM network across the country by setting up a task force to look into recalibration of ATMs.

More micro ATMs have come into function to dispense cash on debit cards. It is to be clarified that common public will be able to withdraw the increased limit of Rs 2500 per day  from the earlier limit of Rs 2000 per day,  only from the ATMs which have been recalibrated.