As many bank accounts were credited with salaries, more chaos was witnessed yesterday outside banks as a large number of salaried people also queued up to withdraw money.
The November 8 demonetisation announcement was followed by a severe cash crunch. The long queues at banks and ATMs don’t seem to be getting shorter since Tuesday after crediting of November salaries in many accounts, even as customers and bankers are reporting brawls over the cash shortage.
People were visibly hassled after standing in bigger queues to withdraw their salaries at banks across the country. They also expressed resentment over arbitrary limits and rules for withdrawals set by bank officials.
Queues begin to form outside banks even before 7am as against the opening time of 10am in New Delhi.
As late as 11.30pm on Tuesday, a serpentine queue was in place at an ATM in Sector 12 in Noida. Many banks in Malviya Nagar, Lajpat Nagar and Saket reported no cash.
Around 300-400 people queued up outside the State Bank of India and IndusInd Bank branches in Krishna Nagar area of East Delhi.
The winding queue outside an Axis Bank branch in Saket spilled onto the main road. Even the normally deserted Oriental Bank of Commerce in Saket saw a long queue of customers.
Many people rued having to wait for hours to access banking.
“I waited outside the bank from 9.30am to 4.30 in the evening. I did not leave the queue even once so as not to miss my turn. I kept ordering tea from a nearby vendor,” gardener Chedi Ram, 44, said.
Many banks were refusing to accept old money or give new notes to clients operating accounts in other states.
“I have been standing in queue for the past two hours as I have to pay my maid and grocery bills in cash. I somehow managed to convince my landlord to accept the rent in cheque but I am bound to visit the bank for ensuring cash for other payments,” said Vishakha Sharma of Janakpuri in southwest Delhi.
“It is so humiliating we have to stand in long queues and beg for our own money. I am sure tomorrow (December 1) will be worse as more people will get salaries in their accounts,” the 27-year-old said.
An employee of a company complained about banks not conforming to rules on withdrawal limit.
People queue as they wait for their turn to exchange or deposit their old high denomination banknotes outside a bank in Mumbai yesterday.
