Decoding the big ATM problem: India just doesn't have enough engineers for the job
Ten days on, the banking sector is yet to recover from the government's demonetisationmove. There are two main reasons for this. One, there is just not enough new notes being supplied by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), even after running its printing presses over time. And the second, there are not enough technicians to recaliberate automated teller machines in the countries.
Only once the ATMs are recalibrated and enough Rs 500 notes are printed, the chaos will be under control, say bankers.
Even as top bankers are assuring public that the situation will normalise in a week, bankers behind the counters think otherwsie.
The new 500 notes have not been released in rural areas. Most of the branches just 20-30 kilometers from metros have not seen the new 500 rupee note as the currency chests are currently available only in cities. Even in metros, the stockpile of the new notes is thin.
A public sector bank branch manager in the outskirt of Kolkata told Business Standard that the currency chests are now dispensing soiled, old Rs 100 notes. Several customers withdrawing money from banks confirmed this. Customers who have withdrawn Rs 100 notes are not releasing them for daily transactions. Hoarding has ensured that the central bank is being forced to release old scrapped notes to the general public again.
The lack of technicians is the bigger problem.
At the end of August 2016, scheduled commercial banks had 2,02,801 ATMs (both onsite and offsite). There are also some more white level ATMs but they are shut as banks don’t have enough cash to feed even their own ATMs. Read More
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