SHILLONG: The Centre’s decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes may have pushed the common man into a state of frenzy but the crisis in the city has brought out the humane side of both people waiting in queues and bank employees.
Instead of losing their patience, people are doing their bit to help each other. As the number of customers increased by the day, several banks, like SBI and Meghalaya Cooperative Apex Bank, made sitting arrangements and even provided tea as a novel gesture.
Employees at many SBI branches are also working tirelessly to ease their customers’ worries. An SBI official told The Shillong Times that as many as 600 employees in the city and its adjoining areas are working overtime to ensure that no customer is denied service. The employees are working till midnight and coming to office ahead of the scheduled time to facilitate currency exchange, withdrawals and deposits at the quickest possible time, the official said.
Other banks too are making their best efforts to ensure that all customers’ demands are catered to. The financial institutes are also ensuring that the ATNs remain functional.
Even Shillong police have come forward to help the hassled citizens. Cops at Madanrting police station led by officer in charge BK Mishra distributed water to those waiting in the queue at the Madanrting SBI branch and other banks in the area on Monday.
Even people are cooperating with each other in the time of crisis and waiting patiently outside ATMs without creating a ruckus, as in many cities like Kolkata where several ATMs were vandalised.
In Mawbah (Barapathar), an unsaid rule is keeping the situation under control. One person uses the ATM only once to ensure that the machine does not run out of money.
Inconveniences continue
Despite all the cooperation and compassion, glitches like closed ATMs and link failure continued to affect financial transactions in the city on Monday.
Customers waiting for hours at a nationalised bank in Greater Laban could not make any transactions because of link failure.
There was a similar scene at the Laban Last Stop branch of Central Bank of India as the technical glitch continued throughout the day. The bank could not cater to the replacement requirements of customers.
A notice outside this bank informed that only those who are customers of this branch can deposit and withdraw whereas others cannot be entertained due to the link failure. The ATM below this branch office was also closed and the bank could not give any reason for this.
Bank of Maharashtra on Laban Main Road downed the ATM shutter early on Monday after it ran out of cash. A bank official said the ATM was used by customers day and night on Sunday and so they ran out of cash and informed that they are in the process of filling it up. This branch had a heavy footfall on Monday and bank officials struggled to attend to all of them.
The SBI Kench’s Trace branch ATM also ran out of cash. The SBI ATMs are witnessing major flow of customers in the city.
Meanwhile, customers complained about lack of display information at bank branches regarding submission of documents for withdrawal, deposits and replacement.
