VISAKHAPATNAM: Finally, the much awaited new Rs 500 currency notes arrived in Visakhapatnam district. But, it hardly brought any respite to people as the supply was far from the adequate.
According to the lead bank (State Bank of India) authorities, the district received Rs 17 crore in Rs 500 denominations late Tuesday evening and distributed on Wednesday.
But, the hope of people to get a breather from the ongoing cash shortage disappeared in no time as the notes were available only in select ATMs where the cash ran out in just half an hour.
People found the notes only in those ATMS which have been recalibrated to dispense the new Rs 500 notes.
As the news spread on the arrival of the much awaited currency notes, people made a beeline for the ATMs those were dispensing the Rs 500 notes. Much to disappointment of the majority in the queue, the machine ran out of cash in no time.
“Almost all major public sector banks have received the new notes. The district has 738 public sector bank branches and 1,104 ATMs. Those which have been recalibrated are loaded with the new currency notes,” lead bank (SBI) manager D Sarath Babu said.
On the other hand, the Rs 2,000 notes were also not found at many ATMs which remained short for the day.
“Scouting for ATMs dispensing cash has become a daily routine. Even after standing in the queue for long, we are not sure of getting money. I went to many ATMs. Forget about Rs 500 notes, I could not even get Rs 2,000 notes,” said Krishna Murthy, a pensioner at State Bank of India, Akkayyapalem.
“Many ATMs have not been dispensing money since four days and the others run out of cash in no time,” said Ravi Kumar who was waiting for money at the ICICI Bank , Akkayyapalem.