At ATM kiosks, cash so near yet so far

Pune: If two bank holidays on the trot left people scrambling between ATMs for cash, Monday will bring no respite, with branches remaining closed for Eid-e-Milad.

To make matters worse, only a handful of kiosks — mostly belonging to nationalized banks — were open. Each of those had serpentine queues of frustrated people. While people have become used to the idea of a long wait in the line, the fear of the machine running out of cash before their turn comes was clearly preying on people’s minds. But they continued to wait.

Shantanu Gokhle, a Kalyaninagar resident, was one of them. “This is a nightmare, considering that banks will remain closed on Monday too. In such a situation where people are struggling for cash, how can banks remain closed for three days at a stretch?” he fumed.

“More than 15 ATMs which I checked were closed or had no cash. I finally saw a functional

ATM

— of Indian Overseas Bank — on FC Road, but looking at the

queue

, I don’t think I will be able to get cash today. It has been an hour already, and I have yet to even enter the bank’s premises. I will face major problems if I don’t get cash today,” Gokhle added.

Nishant Sharma, a bachelor who lives in Koregaon Park, was in the same queue. “I had promised to pay rent to my landlord by Monday. But I had no idea that banks would remain closed on Monday, too. I just have Rs78 in my pocket, including some small change. I don’t know what to do. How is it possible that almost none of the ATMs of private banks are functional even after such a long time? This queue is almost 500m long, and I don’t know whether or not I will get cash or not,” he said.

“Even if I get (cash), it will not be enough for me to pay rent. That will be a serious problem for me as my landlord is already impatient. If at all I do get cash, I may have to give him at least Rs1,000 to save face. I have typed a message telling him about the problem, but don’t have the courage to send it,” added Nishant, who works with a private company.

At areas like Kondhwa and Salunke Vihar, not a single ATM was open, adding to people’s frustration. “What is wrong with (the banks)? An ATM is not just for withdrawing cash. I need to change my pin number as I suspect that someone might have seen it. I have just been driving around for the past hour but none of the ATMs of my bank are open. Why they have downed the shutters? It is a Sunday and rather than being with my family, I am driving looking for an open ATM,” a frustrated Dileep Kasbekar, another working professional, said.

Adarsh Datye, a student who lives in the same area, is at his wit’s end, looking for cash.

“I didn’t know the banks will be closed for three days at a stretch. I have very little money and thought that I will withdraw it from the bank on Monday. My account is with a nationalized bank but I didn’t know about the festival. Right now, I’m drawing a blank. I don’t know what to do. I don’t even have a two-wheeler on which I can move around looking for working ATMs,” Adarsh said.