Postal a/c holders struggle as ATM at GPO remains dry since Nov 13

The scrapping of 500- and 1,000-rupee notes has posed a unique problem to post office savings bank account holders: the ATM at the General Post Office (GPO) has not been refilled for the past five days. These account holders cannot use their debit cards at bank ATMs. 

Post office savings bank account holders in Bengaluru had flocked to the ATM, located at the entrance of the GPO, following demonetisation. Each person was able to withdraw Rs 2,000, but the cash ran out at 8 pm on November 13. The closing balance in the ATM was Rs 1,800. “Due to technical glitches, cash has not been deposited again. We have tied up with AGS Transact Technologies Ltd (a multinational that provides end-to-end payment solutions). But right now, we are unsure of when the ATM will be refilled,” said a staffer at the GPO. 

The GPO has around 25,000 savings bank accounts. The Department of Posts has more than 960 ATMs across the country, including 76 in Karnataka. Thimmoji Rao, assistant superintendent, GPO, said the Postal Directorate, under the Ministry of Communications, had accepted a proposal to enable post office account holders to use bank ATMs, but that would take time. “The project is being processed and can possibly be introduced in the next financial year, though nothing has been finalised,” he added. 

The directorate has conducted workshops in the city to educate postal staff about the change. “The department is currently speeding up the accounting work of all the transactions taking place at its ATMs,” said the GPO staffer quoted earlier. 

As a result, account holders have to queue up at the eight counters set up at the GPO to swap and deposit notes and withdraw the new ones. 

In the first four days after demonetisation, at least 1,000 people had turned up at the GPO every day. Srinath, who has been an employee at the GPO for the last 15 years, said he had to queue up in the last two days. 

“Had the government released 500-rupee notes at the same time, it would have been much easier. The situation is frustrating,” he said. 

Indelible ink 

The use of indelible ink to prevent multiple exchanges of old notes is seeing mixed results. While the number of visitors has come down at some banks as well as the GPO in the last two days, crowds persist at others. 

Canara Bank’s Cantonment branch on MG Road exchanged just Rs 8-10 lakh worth of old notes on November 17 and 18. This is in stark contrast with about Rs 20 lakh worth of old notes exchanged on each previous day. Jayalakshmi M, the branch manager, said the use of indelible ink was a “positive move” that helped the bank staff work more efficiently. “Now, people hesitate to come to swap notes twice. 

Earlier, I had to enter the name in the computer to make sure that the customer was exchanging the notes for the first time. The use of ink has definitely regularised the system,” she said. At 4 pm on Friday, only a handful of people were seen at the bank. 

But the State Bank of India’s branch on Hesaraghatta Road saw a crowd of 500 even after the use of ink was made mandatory. The number of people swapping the old notes is still high. Nonetheless, a bank staffer hailed the move. 

Meanwhile, crowds are coming down at the RBI office on Nrupathunga Road. Unlike the previous days when the queue spilled over onto the road, the situation is now more organised. Vigilant guards at the gate ensure that only people with valid documents stand in the queue. At 1 pm on Friday, there were just 20 people outside the gate. 

DH News Service

‘Centre should have been better prepared’

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday said his government was not against demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes but that it has only objected to the Centre not making necessary preparations. 

“We are not against it (demonetisation). We support any measure aimed at curbing black money...And demonetisation was done in the past also. It is not the first time,” he told reporters at his home office Krishna.

People, especially farmers, are put to a lot of inconvenience due to lack of preparation. The Centre should have released new Rs 500 currency notes first instead of the Rs 2,000 ones. The common man is struggling to get change for Rs 2,000. Besides, farmers are unable to conduct banking transactions, he said, adding that he has already written two letters to Unio-n Finance Minister Arun Jaitley highlighting these problems.