Most of the ATMs in West Bengal ran dry within few hours of reopening forcing the people to make a beeline for banks.
Long queues were seen at ATM counters, which reopened this morning after a two-day break following demonetisation of high value currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, but the people were left disappointed as the cash vending machines soon ran out of money.
By afternoon, most ATMs downed their shutters and put up notices announcing that they were left with no cash.
"I waited for an hour in the queue and minutes before my turn, the ATM was already down. My biggest problem is buying groceries and paying for other petty expenses," said 35-year-old housewife Aditi Saha.
Office-goers in the city were seen taking small breaks from work to check if the ATMs nearby had been refilled.
Bank authorities had a tough time maintaining order in the ATM queues. Every time a customer was seen trying to swipe two or more cards during his turn, others in the queue protested.
Many customers complained that they needed more cash than just the daily withdrawal limit of Rs 2,000 as plastic money or mobile wallets were not accepted everywhere in the market.
From today, customers are 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.
Situation was worse in a few districts, where reports claimed that ATMs did not open at all.
All eyes were on the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) today as lower denomination Rs 100 and Rs 50 notes were mostly reserved for them and banks were giving out the new Rs 2,000 notes.
"There is a huge requirement of cash now and our people are trying their best to meet the demand. Every 10-15 minutes, an ATM is being refilled by us," State Bank of India AGM Mohan Mitra told PTI.
SBI has one of the largest number of ATMs (3,500) in the state.
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