T'gana: Serpentine queues at banks to exchange defunct notes

Long queues of customers were today witnessed at banks here and other places in Telangana as thousands of people thronged them to exchange or deposit the demonetised currency notes.
At several bank branches, customers started arriving even before8 AMwhen they were scheduled to reopen today, a day after the demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee currency notes.
The General Post Office at Abids in the state capital also witnessed heavy rush of customers, even as those who received the new currency notes of Rs 2,000 had a curious look at them.
"I came early and am standing in the queue because change has become a problem," said Subba Rao, a bank customer.

However, the banks and post offices did not start dispensing money at some places in the state as they had not received cash.
Policemen were deployed at some bank branches to manage the crowd and to see that the transactions go on smoothly.

The RBI has said, starting today, bank customers can tender the notes at any of its offices or any bank branch and obtain value thereof by credit into their respective bank accounts.
For immediate cash needs, the notes of value up to Rs 4,000 per person can be exchanged for cash over the counter of these bank branches.

Banks have been asked to be open on weekends including Sunday to deal with the situation, while the ATMs will resume functioning from tomorrow.