Currency ban: Long queues outside ATMs

The late evening announcement of banning the Rs 500/1000 notes created a logistical problem for Delhiites. Within minutes of the announcement, the ATM machines in the markets saw long queues to withdraw small denominations of currency.

The news broke at around 8:50 pm. Even before the aam aadmi (common man) could react to the news of bigger notes being pulled out of circulation, they fished out their wallets to figure out if they have enough hundred rupee notes to survive the night.

While social media was flooded with quotes and pictures with undercurrents of both jubilation and sarcasm, it was mostly the markets that saw a situation of confusion. Even though the announcement clearly said that the notes are to be banned after midnight, the restaurants were hesitating to except larger notes.

The confusion was worse for those without ATM cards and internet banking, “I have substantial amount of Rs 500 notes. I had pulled out to pay rent for my shop but now I will have to delay the rent payment and first get these changed. Dekhenge kaise karte hai, card nahi lekin change hai thoda bahut,” said Mohammad, who runs a small kiosk in Lajpat Nagar.

“We came out to eat with a Rs 1,000 rupee note in our pocket, without a card and now with this announcement, we have no money with us. I hope the cab guy accepts this,” said Mr Simran Singh.

A lot of people felt that the government should have given substantial amount of time to people to make alternate arrangements.

The common man can expect a plethora of troubles through the next two days, “I have been saving cash for the past one year for my entire pregnancy to use it at the time of my delivery. I am a bit of a saver when it comes to money for important occasions/milestone in my life. So I ended up saving quite a bit of cash in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination. Now that both these currencies are being made redundant, it is a bit inconvenient to say the least. But somehow, I feel it’s a pretty good decision PM Modi has made,” said Dilpreet Bedi Biswas.

“It is a good decision. However, implementation will be quite a hassle for banks over next the 60 days,” said Shashank Sharma, a resident of South Delhi.

People outside ATMs were worried if the machines would have enough money to cater to unprecedented demand.

“I am here since half-an- hour already. Someone told me the ATMs are giving out Rs 500 notes. I am confused; I hardly keep cash at home. We could have been better prepared had the announcement came over the weekend. It would have been easy,” said Inderpal Singh.