The banks and ATMs saw the familiar long but disciplined queues since sunrise, though those queueing up today had an additional reason to worry about as the government had lowered the exchange limit to Rs 2,000 starting tomorrow.
While some banks accepted cash, most of them stopped disbursing it mainly due to the cash crunch with a number of ATMs in and around the city putting up either a 'no cash' or a 'temporarily out of service' notice.
The 21-year-old was standing in a queue with his friend, carrying an identity proof. Even after spending over two hours, there were around 15 persons ahead of him.
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Owner of a small saree shop at Shreeram Arcade Satish Mishra visited at least four banks since the morning before finding a relatively shorter queue outside the branch of a nationalised bank at India Exchange Place in the central parts of the city.
"I could not open my shop today. I had no other option but come to the bank myself. This is the third time that I had to keep my shop closed and visit a bank for money...It's hurting my business," he said, adding that the weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 24,000 was "too small" for businessmen.
Bank Employees' Association (AIRBEA), the situation is quite "challenging" for the bank employees who are doing their best to help the thousands of customers standing in serpentine queues.
Admitting that the supply of currency notes of smaller denominations was not sufficient to meet the "huge demand", the official said, "We are working on a war footing and trying to help our customers. But, there is no sign of any improvement in the situation."
There was no report of any untoward incident in or around the city, a senior official of Kolkata Police said.