Bhubaneswar, Jan. 1: Finance executive Sam Patnaik, 32, a resident of Rasulgarh, was elated when the Reserve Bank of India tried to provide relief to the demonetisation-hit people by increasing the ATM withdrawal limit to Rs 4,500.
Banking on the announcement, Patnaik had planned a trip to Ramachandi beach to celebrate the New Year today. But he was in for a rude shock and hopes of celebrating the first day of the year were dashed when he could not withdraw cash even after making trips to several ATMs in the city.
"I visited one ATM after another since 7.30 am today. I thought I would be able to withdraw Rs 4,500 and set out for Ramachandi early in the day. But none of the ATMs I went to had cash," he said.
"I was somewhat sure that I would be able to withdraw money if I went to ATMs early in the day as the initial rush, which we had witnessed immediately after the demonetisation move, had thinned. But, who knew that the machines would run dry as soon as the withdrawal limit was raised?" he said.
Later in the day, Patnaik finally managed to withdraw Rs 4,000 from an ATM at Laxmi Sagar, but by then his plans had gone haywire.
Narendra Swain, 42, a sales professional who lives at Saheed Nagar, faced a similar problem. He said that almost all ATMs in his area ran out of cash within the first few hours this morning as almost everyone started withdrawing Rs 4,500.
A security guard posted at the State Bank of India ATM at Bomikhal said the machines had been calibrated to dispense Rs 4,500 to each customer. "But whoever visited the ATM this morning, withdrew the full amount. As a result, the machine ran out of cash by 12 noon," he said.
To add to this, very few ATMs in the city could dispense Rs 4,500 to customers today as most did not have Rs 500 currency notes. Some banks also stuck to the old norm and their machines did not allow customers to withdraw more than Rs 2,500.
With the New Year's Eve falling on a weekend, the banks could not replenish majority of the ATMs and they ran out of cash.
In another development, banks are gearing up for a hectic Monday tomorrow. After the weekend, which coincided with New Year's Eve and tomorrow being the first working day of the month, banks are expecting a huge rush at the counters.
P. Panda, manager of a State Bank of India branch in the city, said that even as the ATM withdrawal limit has been increased, it is unlikely to reduce queues at branch counters. "People expected that the weekly withdrawal limit would be raised. But that did not happen. So, we will have to face tremendous pressure," Panda said.