100 days since note ban: ATMs in city still run dry

Come Thursday and it will be 100 days since the government announced the demonetisation of ₹500 and ₹1000 notes, thereby making 85 % of the country’s currency defunct.

For Prabha Kumari, a resident of Silokhera village, who works as a domestic help at Uniworld City in Sector 30, demonetisation has been a bane for the last three months.

Prabha reflects the view of lakhs of Gurgaon residents who have been affected by demonetisation and were forced shift from paper currency to digital money.

Prabha had to first open a bank account to which her employees could transfer money. Then she had to learn how to operate an ATM in order to withdraw money from her account. “It was a nerve-wracking affair,” Prabha says as she recalls the constant heckling she was subjected to others in the queue. They too had been waiting in endless queues to withdraw some money.

“I had to learn the process of withdrawing money with the help of guards posted at the bank and at ATMs. The delay led to many in the queue passing rude comments about me. I didn’t let that deter me and soon I purchased a smartphone from my savings,” Prabha said.

Using the smartphone she learnt to use netbanking from her employees and started purchasing essential goods using apps. This, she said, helped do away with time spent in long queues in front of ATMs to withdraw money.

Three months on, Prabha claims that the lines outside the ATMs have halved, but the chance of finding an ATM dispensing money depends on “pure luck”.

RC Nayak, the lead district manager of Gurgaon, though maintains that the cash crunch situation has improved significantly since November 2016.

“The monetary situation has improved and now there is regular money flow from Reserve Bank of India to all bank branches. While it is still not meeting the expected demand, with time, the deficiency has reduced considerably,” Nayak said.