Banks in Ranchi had a breezy Friday.
Crowds did a vanishing act from counters in the wake of the dawn-to-dusk bandh and the limited transactions that happened were smooth for the first time in almost a month.
Although lead district manager H.K. Kakkar claimed that mass awareness about going cashless had eased pressure on them, a section of bank officials said anticipation of bandh violence had kept most account holders at home.
Satyendra Mishra, chief manager of Punjab National Bank's Ashok Nagar Branch, said most of their customers had decided to defer banking work for this week. "We have sufficient cash, but account holders stayed away possibly because of the bandh. The crowd may return on Monday because people will need to withdraw money for month-long expenses," Mishra said.
Chief manager of United Bank of India, Albert Ekka Chowk, Ram Bali Ram couldn't agree more. "There is no cash crunch at our bank, but problem of conveyance owing to the bandh is perhaps responsible for keeping customers away. We had cash to disburse, but very limited customers. The counters wore a deserted look at times," he said.
General manager of Reserve Bank of India, Ranchi, Patrick Barla too held the bandh responsible for Friday's low footfall. "We have distributed Rs 830 crore across banks in the state. The reason behind few customers was the bandh," he added.
Abhay Kumar Mahto, an insurance agent, said those who dared to defy the shutdown could avoid long queues, which was normally expected before the weekend.
"One of my colleagues went to the Hinoo branch of Axis Bank to withdraw Rs 10,000. He returned happy in five minutes flat with 101 notes of Rs 100 denomination. Call it a mistake on part of the cashier or availability of excess cash, he got Rs 100 extra!" Mahto said.
Crowds were also conspicuous by their absence at HDFC Bank. "There were just two people ahead of me in the queue. I just went to deposit my account payee cheque at the Circular Road branch of HDFC," said Ranjeet Kumar, a resident of Nagratoli.
Chief manager of Allahabad Bank S.K. Behra, however, claimed that crisis of cash was keeping their clients away. "Why will people come to a bank when there is no cash? Even today, our chest provided cash to some branches facing crisis," he said.
Unlike most banks, ATMs in the city did not function normally.
Mukesh Kumar, a sales executive, had to hop three ATMs on Circular Road before managing to withdraw money from one belonging to ICICI Bank at Amravati Complex. "The cash kiosks of HDFC, PNB and IndusInd Bank were closed. My luck, I could finally withdraw Rs 1,900," he said.
Bokaro
More than 30 banks in the steel city functioned normally and customers could complete transactions quickly because queues were short.
Shyamal Mitra, who runs a cyber café at Cooperative Colony, said he withdrew Rs 5,000 from the SBI's administrative branch in seven minutes. "Generally, in the first week of every month, one witnesses heavy rush while demonetisation has made it worse. But, on a bandh day, I got lucky," he added.
