THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Cash crunch gripped the city yet again with several ATMs going dry on Sunday. Except for a few, ATMS at Statue and East Fort ran out of cash.
Rs 100 note remained elusive for the customers who were lucky enough to find a functional ATM.
Customers who visited the SBT’s kiosk at Statue junction were greeted with a ‘not functioning’ board and workers could be seen engaged in floor renovation works. Another ATM of the State Bank Group in the same building did not have any cash.
Prabhakaran Pillai, a 63-year-old retired government employee, was one of the disappointed customers who visited the SBT ATM on the day. Hailing from Mannanthala in the suburbs, Pillai was on the way to visit his daughter’s house in the city.
“A neighbour had told me that the state bank ATMs at Statue will never run out of money as they were managed by the bank directly. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any money from the three ATMs I visited so far,” he said.
Pillai said the ATM at his native place vended only Rs 2,000 notes.
ATMs near the Press Club, those managed by the State Bank of Travancore and Syndicate Bank, too ran out of money on the day, disappointing scores of customers. Several teller machines at East Fort area, including those managed by the State Bank Group and private banks, did not have money on the day. Those which functioned did not vend any change. ATMs of the State Bank of India and ICICI Bank at Sasthamangalam were among the cashless machines in the city.