Despite raise in limit, Delhiites struggle as many ATMs still dry

New Delhi: Even though the government has scaled-up the weekly withdrawal limit to Rs 50,000 for saving account holders, residents of various areas of Delhi-NCR said they don’t have much cash with them.

Out of a dozen ATMs around Sector 18 area, barely three ATMs were found working. Most of the working ATMs in the satellite city’s busiest market area were dispensing only Rs 2,000 notes.

Manish Gupta, a local businessman, said his search for a functioning ATM lasted for 20 minutes. “I need to withdraw Rs 25,000. Many ATMs in the market are either closed or dry,” he said. Out of over half-a-dozen ATMs in the East Delhi’s Mayur Vihar market, only two were found working in the morning hours. The residents were seen running pillar to post to withdraw money.

“The best time to withdraw cash from ATMs is when vans arrive with fresh supply of notes. Most of the ATMs in the area are getting replenished with cash only once a day,” Mayur Vihar resident Nishant Singh said.

Another East Delhi resident, Dharmendra Kumar, said: “Despite a large number of ATMs in Laxmi Nagar, I am finding it difficult to withdraw cash. There is cash in some of the ATMs, but the queues are long.”

“The shortage of cash is making lives difficult for those living in high-rise apartments. The government must send more cash to such area,” said Sonal Kamboj, a resident of Ghaziabad. She added that most ATMs in Vaishali have remained perennially dry since demonetisation was announced by the government on November 8.

The residents of the densely populated localities of Vasundhara, Indirapuram and Mohan Nagar also suffered due to lack of ATMs. “The number of ATMs is very low near high-rise localities,” Ravindra Kumar, a resident of Indirapuram said.

The cash crunch was not as bad in the areas of Central Delhi. In Chandani Chowk area, which is the hub of Delhi’s retail business, more than half of the ATMs were found
working.