Fear factor: ATMs insufficiently fed for fear of riots

As election approaches the ATMs of many localities get out of cash.

LAHORE: The possibility of pre and post election riots has forced many banks to take precautionary measures, including dispensing of smaller amounts to their Automated Teller Machines (ATM’s).

In Lahore, the ATM machines of many banks display the message: “This ATM is out of cash”. People have been observing this issue since start of this month, especially in congested and highly populated areas of the city.

“We have been directed by the higher ups of our bank, to put less money in ATMs located in congested localities or those areas where election campaigns are in full swing,” the manager of a small bank told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity. He maintained that the ATM tray, which usually contains Rs2.5 million in cash, is nowadays fed with just around Rs0.2 million in view of possible attacks on ATM machines. According to the bank manager, the reasons behind such directives were past incidents where people looted ATMs following riots.

“We have seen this several times in the past and want to avoid it in the future,” he added.

There are 36 banks operating in Pakistan, out of which around 5 are considered as large banks, while the rest are classified as medium or small scale banks. These banks have around 11,000 branches with 6,200 ATMs.

A visit to several ATMs in Lahore over the last couple of days revealed that the machines, especially those located in middle-class and low-income neighbourhoods, were frequently out of cash. ATMs belonging to smaller banks faced similar issues as well, placing an increased burden on the larger banks.

“This problem might be faced in some branches and there may be multiple reasons for it. But as far as our bank is concerned, we don’t issue any order for putting less cash in our ATM machines,” said Mubashar Bashir, Head of Corporate Communications at Muslim Commercial Bank. He maintained ATM machines in congested areas often ran out of cash due to higher usage.

“But our special teams regularly monitor this and refill the cash trays whenever they get empty,” he added.

Bashir said that at times long power outages choked the system, putting machines out of order.

“In such a scenario, if any area witnesses a law and order issue, it is not possible for us to restore the system until the situation in the city settles down,” he maintained.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 6^th, 2013.