For Anusha Singh, a salesperson, the harrowing cashless time didn’t end on Friday — the day ATMs were slated to reopen all over the city after a two-day gap. Singh had to stand in a long queue at a private bank ATM in Connaught Place, only to return empty-handed as the machine had run out of money by the time her turn arrived.
Similar scenes were witnessed all over the city, and at some places, the queues outside the ATMs seemed endless. The long, serpentine queues spilled on to the roads and pavements for kilometres.
And the terrible tale did not end just there. The ATMs had a limit of Rs 2 lakh, which would get over every few hours. Most cash vending machines ran out of notes several times during the day.
“I went to the bank on Thursday but could not deposit any money as the queue was too long and I had already missed half day’s work. Today, I went to the ATM at 8am. By the time my turn came around 9.35am, the machine had run out of notes. I have been out of cash since Tuesday. I had to borrow money from a colleague to go back home in the evening,” said Singh, 33.
While hundreds of people had queued up outside ATMs since early morning on Friday, the worst hit were those who were outside the government bank ATMs, especially the State Bank of India (SBI) and the Punjab National Bank. Around 59 per cent of the country’s bank and ATM branches belong to the SBI.
“I went to 15-20 ATMs in the day, hoping to get some cash. But all of them had run dry. I skipped work on Friday, running around the ATMs in the city. It was my worst day ever,” said Rohit Aggarwal, who works with an advertising agency and lives in Model Town.
Meanwhile, amid all this chaos, the police received a total of 3,924 PCR calls, as people ended up pushing, shoving and fighting with each other in the queues outside banks and ATMs. As many as 838 calls were received from various petrol pumps across the city.
As if the citizens were not having a hard time already, rumours of shortage of ration in the National Capital Region also spread, resulting in more confusion. As the situation turned from bad to worse, special CP, law and order (North), tweeted: “Area being patrolled extensively by SHOs to dispel rumours and inform the crowd. No shortage of salt or ration.”
THE WORST HIT
While hundreds of people had queued up outside ATMs since early morning on Friday, the worst hit were those who were outside the government bank ATMs, especially the State Bank of India
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "ATM")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}