Banks open doors to Mad, mad rush

It was chaos at all banks as people waited for hours to exchange old notes or get some cash in hand; many struggled with little or no cash as ATMs stayed shut

banks

BENGALURU: Chaos prevailed at all the banks in the city immediately after they opened their doors on Thursday. People were seen standing in long queues outside the banks since early morning, eagerly waiting to get hold of the fresh currency.

Petty arguments between customers and bank employees were a common sight, so much so that many banks had to call the police to control the mad rush.
Kiran Kumar, Chief Manager of State Bank of Mysore, Cunningham Road, said, “People are not ready to accept Rs 2,000 notes and they demand Rs 100 notes. We were running out of Rs 100 notes and this made them angry. So we were forced to call the police to control the crowd.”
Special counters insufficient

People were seen standing in serpentine queues outside all banks in the city since Thursday morning to get hold of some cash, (top) a scene at the SBI branch at Richards Town; a woman finally makes it to a bank counter | vinod kumar T, pushkar v

In order to be able to handle the rush, many banks have opened special counters. Kiran added, “Even though we opened three counters, we can’t control the crowd. As a result, our regular customers are not getting any service.”
A State Bank of India employee said, “We give priority to our regular customers. But when we do this, other people standing in line make a fuss.”

However, the customers do have a point. “It is the responsibility of the banks to provide us with adequate change. What can we do with Rs 2,000 notes? Nobody will accept it,” said Satish S, a techie from Banaswadi.
Many were unhappy with the service provided by the banks. “We have been waiting in the line for hours. They could have put up more counters,” said Sumesh Rao from Shivajinagar.