Demonetization: Mumbai has the longest ATM queues, Chennai shortest

Among the four metro cities of the country, Mumbai is still the worst affected by the government's demonetization move, a report by Quikr's 'CashNoCash' said. According to it, "Mumbai still has the longest wait times at ATMs while Chennai has the shortest."

While queues outside ATMs had subsided in the weeks after demonetization, the rush is back with the pay day and limited cash with the banks. It's almost a month since Prime Minister Narendra Modi decommissioned the use of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in a crackdown on black money hoarders, and the country's financial capital is the worst affected, the report said. 

Queues outside ATMs across these cities tend to peak in the second half of the day, and the average wait time is about 50 minutes, the report noted. 

While nearly 40% ATMs in Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi had cash, only 30% of Bengaluru's ATMs had cash. 

"CashNoCash" was an initiative launched by Quikr to help people find the nearest ATM. The service was launched after a cash crunch ensued in the aftermath of the demonetization move.

The report noted a trend between cash availability and waiting time. It said, "though 70% of the ATMs in the country reported cash availability at least once a day, they run of cash quickly." 

The information was based on crowdsourced surveys updated by users to map the status of ATMs.

So far, the CashNoCash initiative has managed to help over 11 million users across New Delhi, Pune, Chennai, Bangalore, Mumbai, and Ahmedabad.