Serpentine queues were visible since Tuesday morning outisde ATMs to withdraw valid currency notes from vending machines and exchange demonetised bills.
While banks remained closed on Monday on account of Guru Nanak Jayanti in many parts of the country, cash-starved customers again were disappointed on Tuesday with most of the ATMs running out of the cash.
Even at some ATMs which had cash were facing server issues, making people wait in the queue frustrated.
Many households are running out of even piggy bank money saved by their children for meeting essential daily provisions.
Banks’ infrastructure is unable to handle the huge rush resulting in long serpentine queue where average waiting time is 4 hours, especially for exchange.
ATMs will still take two more weeks before they start dispensing new high-value ₹500 and ₹2000 notes. Currently, they are dispensing ₹100 notes which make them go dry in few hours.
With public anger rising across the country over limited cash availability, the government eased key restrictions, including raising daily withdrawal limit from bank counters and ATMs as well as hiking the amount of old and now defunct currency notes that can be exchanged.
The limit of old and now defunct ₹500 and ₹1,000 notes that can be exchanged for freshly minted Rs 2,000 and new Rs 500 notes was increased from ₹4,000 to ₹4,500 per day.
The weekly limit of ₹20,000 for withdrawal from bank counters has been increased to Rs 24,000. The maximum limit of ₹10,000 per day on such withdrawals has been removed.
