Out of service: Only ATM in Tank becomes a nuisance

When it is working, people have to wait for their turn in long queues

DI KHAN: Instant transactions are not easily available to people in Tank district as there is only one automated teller machine (ATM) that is near Old Sabzi Mandi Bazaar in Tank city.

However, the only ATM has also not been of much use as it is often out of service or cash. “Even if it is working you have to wait for your turn in a long queue,” Sadia Khan, a resident of Tank city, told The Express Tribune on Monday. “The place is more crowded when people come to withdraw money that comes from Benazir Income Support Programme.”

Just so that their turn comes first, people even resort to pushing each other, she added. “Beneficiaries of the programme, who are mostly women, come from far-flung areas to the city to withdraw their money.”

However, since taking money out from a source as convenient as the ATM has become a tedious task for those in Tank, people approach the private commission agents. The agents are found at bus stands in the city and charge Rs300 to get the cash out for the people who approach them. Since they are said to have sources in banks and with BISP staff, the agents can get money out.

Locals have demanded a solution for the issue so that they do not have to go to the agents. They have asked for more machines for cash withdrawal, but nothing has been done as yet.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th,  2015.