Common man perturbed as cash crunch continues

The nation is witnessing a currency shortage for the second day in a row, causing a disruption of one's daily routine.

Reports have been pouring in on Wednesday morning from different pockets of the country, where individuals have visited ATMs in the hope of withdrawing money, but come back with empty wallets.

"For the past two-three days, there has been a shortage of money in ATMs. This morning, I came to the ATM in the hope that money would have been loaded, however, the machine is still not working. We are finding it very difficult to operate without cash," a local from Bhubaneswar told ANI.

In Bhopal, ATMs remained dry on Wednesday, leaving locals anxious.

"I have visited 12 ATMs since yesterday, but have not been able to withdraw money till now, as there was no cash in any of these machines. We are facing a lot of problems due to this," said a local from Bhopal.

Woes of common man due to a shortage of cash have also been expressed in Ranchi, Ahmedabad, and Hyderabad, where ATMs displayed 'no cash available' placards.

On Tuesday, people in various parts of the country, including Delhi, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Telangana, and Maharashtra, complained that they were unable to withdraw cash from ATMs, as these had gone dry.

However, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley called the cash crunch in the country as a 'temporary shortage' and assured that the situation is being tackled quickly.

"Have reviewed the currency situation in the country. Overall there is more than adequate currency in circulation and also available with the banks. The temporary shortage caused by 'sudden and unusual increase' in some areas is being tackled quickly," the Finance Minister wrote on Twitter.

On the contrary, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) later in the day claimed that there was no cash crunch in the first place, as opposed to media reports claiming otherwise.

In an official statement, the RBI refuted media reports suggesting a shortage of currency and said sufficient cash was present in the RBI vaults and currency chests. It further stated that the reported shortage could have occurred due to logistical issues of replenishing ATMs frequently and the recalibration of ATMs being still underway.

However, the central bank stated that printing of currency notes has been ramped up in all the four note presses as a precautionary measure.