Another dry spell for ATMs across Mumbai?

As an 'out of service' sign greets mid-day reporter Rupsa Chakraborty at an ATM in Parel, she decides to try her luck with another in Dadar, where too most of the booths bore similar signs with no cash in a majority of them. Pics/ Pradeep Dhivar

ATMs across the city, especially those in the western suburbs, seem to be running low on cash for the last one week.

Whether or not this is still an after-effect of demonetisation, the few functioning ATMs have been witnessing long queues, with people sharing their annoyance over the trouble caused and the difficulty in getting their own money.

Andheri resident Saalim Khan (26), who owns a garment factory in Sewri, said, "None of the ATMs around my factory had any money in them when I tried last week. Even the lines outside the ATMs near my house have been unusually long."

"Our company accountant had visited a Corporation Bank branch; she had to wait for two hours because the bank had run out of cash. Even smaller banks' ATMs in the neighbourhood don't have money in them," said another Andheri resident Karishma Bangera, who stays in Lokhandwala.

mid-day reporter Rupsa Chakraborty tries another ATM!

Not just in residential and commercial areas, but even in important places like hospitals and railway stations around the city, the ATMs in the vicinity have the board of 'No cash' hung outside.

Several ATMs near major hospitals have been without cash for days. For instance, the ATM inside Global Hospital in Parel has been non-functional for the last four days, while the only one inside city's biggest civic hospital, KEM, too, has been out of cash for days.

Despite repeated attempts, no official at the Central bank, Reserve Bank of India, was available to throw more light on the ongoing issue of cash shortage.