MAPUSA: It was confusion once again on Friday with banks witnessing heavy rush on the second day, as people gathered to get new notes in exchange of old ones in Mapusa and other villages in Bardez.
Anxious customers thronged the branches much before the opening time and were seen standing in queue for hours to complete their transactions.
Most bank ATMs in Mapusa were not available for cash as banks were running short of Rs 100 notes. The SBI ATMs in town ran out of cash at least thrice during the day, as there was heavy rush to withdraw.
From Friday onwards, customers were allowed to withdraw up to Rs 2,000 per day from ATMs till November 18. The withdrawal limit will be raised to Rs 4,000 per day per card from November 19, 2016.
On Friday, the bank ATMs dispensed currency notes of only Rs 100 denominations.
Banks said that they were trying to recalibrate their machines for higher denomination notes, but it would take some days before they start tendering new high security Rs 500 and 2,000 notes.
A banker pointed out that many banks were running out of Rs 100 notes and it could create problems for the banking staff.
“Agitated customers can just blow their tops on the staff. We hope the RBI will replenish the already depleting stock of currency notes,” the banker said.
Although no untoward incident has been reported from any parts of Bardez things could get worse if the situation on liquidity does not improve soon.
“We are scared people in frustration may start damaging ATMs, which are not functioning for want of cash,” the banker added.
When contacted, Police Inspectors at Mapusa, Calangute and Anjuna said they did not receive any complaints of any untoward incidents on account of the bank rush in their respective police stations.
