Another cash curb goes, but ATMs still dry even after 100 days
RBI said it would remove the cap on withdrawals from saving accounts in two phases.
New Delhi: The RBI’s announcement of increasing weekly cash withdrawal limit for savings accounts to Rs 50,000 a week came into effect Monday, but without much relief to the public as most ATMs across the country are still dry after over 100 days of demonetisation.
In fact, the withdrawal limit increase could further deteriorate the cash crunch at ATMs for the next few days, warned experts.
The current situation is contrary to the statements made by the RBI and the finance ministry that normalcy has been restored after demonetisation. “We are replenishing ATMs every day, but they run dry quickly due to heavy rush,” said a senior official from a private bank.
Navroze Dastur, MD of India’s largest ATM company NCR India, said, “Cash shortage is one problem. Also, people are hoarding money. We expect the situation to be normal by the end of February or the first week of March.”
The value of currency withdrawn was Rs 15.45 lakh crore. But, the RBI has not given data on how much of the scrapped currency has been replaced. RBI deputy governor R. Gandhi had earlier said Rs 9.92 lakh crore in currency was in the system.
Earlier, the RBI said it would remove the cap on withdrawals from saving accounts in two phases.