Our Reporter
Dimapur, Feb. 4 (EMN): Citizens in Dimapur as well as in the state have been affected by the unavailability of cash in ATMs for the past few days, as scores of people have been seen lining up, crowding ATMs in the commercial hub and being greeted by a ‘No Cash’ sign at the booths.
Paogin Haokip, AGM SBI (RBO), Dimapur told Eastern Mirror that the cash crunch was due to the two-day strike called by the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) on January 31 and February 1. The strike halted many services as talks on wage revision failed to make headway.
“Due to the strike on January 31 and February 1, there has been a scarcity of cash in ATMs. Moreover, February 2 was a Sunday; so the intake was used up that day,” he informed.
Haokip further said that special permission was taken from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to open ATMs on Sunday (February 2) for the convenience of people, as it was the beginning of the month.
“The scenario will get back to normal in the next two days,” assured Haokip.
A citizen of Dimapur, who wished not to be named, said that he was left with no option but to go all the way to the ATM located at the airport, as all the ATMs along the highway were out of cash.
“I really needed money so I went from ATM to ATM and landed at the airport, which also had a very long queue and I waited for almost an hour to withdraw,” shared the citizen.
Pensioners were reported to be the worst-affected as they had come from nearby villages to withdraw their monthly allowance, as the strike was called during the monthly transition period where maximum transactions were usually made.
