Weekend, FY17 closing hit ATM cash-filling operations

SBI said the cash crunch problem was acute in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana

A large number of people complained of no cash at bank ATMs in the past few days, as the closing of the financial year, coupled with a weekend, hit the cash-filling operations in some parts. 

However, with improvement in deployment of money by cash management firms, the situation would be back to normal soon, bankers said.  

Rituraj Sinha, president of Cash Logistics Association of India, said ATMs had run dry in a few pockets at places like Mumbai owing to holiday (including weekend) and bank staff being occupied with financial year-end work. 

Two senior public sector bank executives said cash-filling at ATMs was minimal over the weekend. Work on closing the books for financial year 2016-17 and the weekend affected the operations, they added. 

The situation will be back to normal in a few days, a top State Bank of India (SBI) executive said.

Rajeev Anand, executive director, Axis Bank, said, “Typically, the first few days of April see higher than normal withdrawal of cash due to the (financial) year-end. Hence, outflows from ATMs are slightly higher in some centres. Customers are depositing cash in branches and the situation should normalise.”

While higher withdrawal may be a regular feature at this time of the year, this year bank branches are not getting enough cash to replenish the ATMs, which is adding to the problem, said an official of another private bank.

Following the demonetisation move announced in November 2016, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had imposed a cap of Rs 24,000 per week on cash withdrawal at bank branches and a cap of Rs 4000 per day on ATM withdrawal. These caps were removed on March 13. 

However, despite the removal, cash withdrawals seem on a decline, says a recent report by SBI. Weekly cash withdrawals totalled Rs 34,500 crore on March 17 and Rs 32,500 crore on March 24, the report said. 

SBI said the cash crunch was acute in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, as supply of currency from the RBI was much less than the usual demand. While the demand is about Rs 250 crore daily, supply has been about Rs 50 crore. Banks are constantly in touch with RBI for more.

As for other places in the country, it is a problem in a few pockets due to local distribution where ATM-filling is outsourced. It is not a problem of cash supply, the SBI executive said.