Residents of Jamshedpur, particularly senior citizens, heaved a sigh of relief after the RBI on Monday raised the daily ATM withdrawal limit from Rs 4,500 to Rs 10,000. However, some questioned the rationality behind retaining the weekly ceiling of Rs 24,000 on savings accounts. The Telegraph speaks to four ATM visitors on Tuesday
TARUN KUMAR GUHA
• Age: 71
• Occupation: retired Tata Steel employee
• Address: North Layout, Sonari
• Voice box: "We are an elderly couple living in this city; our son works in Pune. It was difficult for us to travel 4km to Bistupur every other day to withdraw money from ATMs. Those closer home never ever had notes of smaller denominations. Raising of the ATM withdrawal limit is a welcome relief. We hope the weekly ceiling on savings accounts will be removed too," Guha said after withdrawing Rs 10,000 from the Bistupur main branch of SBI
SURENDRA PANDEY
• Age: 61
• Occupation: assistant foreman (retired), Tata Steel
• Address: Golmuri Workers' Flat, Golmuri
• Voice box: "We had spent most of November-December standing in ATM queues for our own money. Fortunately, we can now withdraw Rs 10,000 at one go. But, what is the point of retaining the weekly ceiling? Also, the RBI must circulate more lower denomination notes. Things are still far from normal," Pandey said after coming out of the SBI main branch ATM in Bistupur
DHARAMRAJ SINHA
• Age: 34
• Occupation: general office employee, Tata Steel
• Address: Farm Area, Kadma
• Voice box: "The new move is more than welcome. Salaried people like me can also make do with a weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 till banks begin levying ATM transaction charges," Sinha said after withdrawing Rs 9,000 from the Bank of Baroda ATM in Bistupur
BIMAL KUMAR
• Age: 47
• Occupation: employee, Om Logistics, Sakchi
• Address: Tuiladungri, Golmuri
• Voice box: "Raising the ATM withdrawal limit was a good decision. However, things can get better if more Rs 100 notes are loaded into ATMs at regular intervals. Some ATMs are not dispensing Rs 100 notes for more than a month now," Kumar said as he withdrew Rs 9,000 from the Bank of Baroda ATM in Bistupur
AUTHORITYSPEAK
"There is a crisis of Rs 100 notes as the last consignment from RBI (Patna) came last week. We are expecting another consignment in a few days," said SBI main branch assistant general manager Rajesh Kumar Verma
Compiled by Animesh Bisoee
