Cash chaos as ATMs reopen today

New Delhi: ATM centres reopened today after two days. The reopening saw thousands of anxious people queuing up in all parts of the country. People who were seen jostling to get lower denominations or new currency notes. Image Courtesy: Twitter ATMs all over the country remain shut for two days following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of the demonetisation of higher currency notes to fight the menace of black money. Thus, today, people began to assemble early in the morning to withdraw money as the government has also drastically curtailed the amount of money that can be withdrawn from ATMs when they reopen. Until 18^th November, there will be a limit of Rs 2,000 per day per card. This will be raised to Rs 4,000 later. Prime Modi had said in his address to the nation, on Tuesday. ATMs were made to go offline so that banks could replace the old currency notes with new and lower denomination notes. The enormity of the exercise has led to a sweeping cash crunch and caused all round chaos and inconveniences for people. This is a serious concern for people like who are struggling to buy even simple daily essentials. Also, not all ATMs are functional today. Kuldeep Kumar, a man standing outside a ATM centre in Connaught Place in Delhi was disappointed because of the long queue. He said, ‘I came with a lot of hope. I thought I ll be able to withdraw some amount of money but all in vain. I have a wedding to attend on the 24^th of November and a function in February. Also, my father expired lately. All of this requires a good amount of money but I have been unable to withdraw any money since the morning. I ll now try my luck at Bank of Baroda which is nearby. ’ Unfortunately, many ATMs aren't functional in various places. Reportedly, ithere is no cash in some machines and will be arriving only after noon. While most ATMs, including those of ICICI Bank, Canara Bank and Corporation Bank have not become operational in Noida. Those that are working will be dispensing lower denomination and the new Rs.500 and Rs.2000 notes. However, the pain for the public is expected to last for at least 10 days, reportedly as putting that many lower and new denomination notes in a short amount of time is not going to be easy for the banks.