Empty ATMs deprive people of Eid shopping

Many machines ran out of money despite clear instructions from State Bank

KARACHI: Automated Teller Machines (ATM) of many banks ran out of cash on Saturday, leaving account holders in a state inconvenience as they could not draw money to proceed with their plans on the weekend before the Eid.

"I had to take my family for shopping but due to this irresponsible behaviour of banks I had to stay back," said Kamran Ali, who works as an accountant at a company producing ATM machines and lives in Saddar.



This was my day off from work but it went in vain, he remarked, adding that despite having clear instructions from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the banks did not follow them.

Most banks are usually closed on Saturday but the SBP had directed them to stay open on July 2 in view of upcoming Eid holidays. The banks will remain closed from July 5 to 8, which meant that people had only Saturday (July 2) and Monday (July 4) to make withdrawals from banks.

Asim Sherwani, resident of Gulistan-e-Jauhar Block 19, shared that at an ATM facility he first met a long queue of people and as his turn came he found that there was no cash left in the machine.

"I went to another ATM facility in the area and the situation there was same as well," said Sherwani. "I visited around five ATM machines of different banks in my area. Still, I could not get cash."

Khalid Gorgej, resident of Nazimabad who recently returned to the country from Dubai to celebrate Eid with family, complained about the same problem. "They [the banks management] should realise that people need money especially during these days. They claim to be very customer-friendly in their advertisement but this is what actually they do to us," he commented.



Ajay Kumar, who works as a quality controller in a pharmaceutical company, said that the government should be considerate at least in Ramazan towards the people who voted them into power. "This shows how seriously the monetary institutions take orders from the government [SBP]."

However, an SBP spokesperson remarked that a majority of ATMs were working despite heavy withdrawals. A shortage of cash was expected keeping in mind the Eid holidays. That was the reason the SBP had promised on July 1 that the general public will receive "hassle-free financial services" in the forthcoming extended holidays, he added.

The SBP will inspect ATM sites of commercial banks till July 10 to verify their status. In addition, the central bank had also advised commercial banks to inform the SBP in advance about extra cash that they might need during Eid holidays.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2016.