Mumbai, Apr 17 (DC): Don’t be surprised if you are at an ATM and the money vending machine says we are running out of cash, as it’s just not you, cash crunch has been reported in several states, including Karnataka, Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
In Hyderabad office goers have told news agency ANI, that they have been unable to withdraw money from ATMs in several parts of the city since Monday.
Similar reports were received from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh where people are saying there ATMs are running out of money.
People in Delhi have also been talking about the non-availability of cast at ATMs.
People in Bhopal say, "We are facing a cash crunch. ATMs are not dispensing cash. The situation has been the same since 15 days. We have visited several ATMs today as well, to no avail."
In Gujarat's Vadodara, people complained of inconvenience due to lack of currency in ATMs. They said they had to wait in long queues at some of the ATMs which have cash.
Reports suggest officials of the finance ministry have held a meeting with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to take stock of the situation.
Meanwhile, Minister of State (MoS) Finance S P Shukla said, "We've cash currency of Rs 1,25,000 crore right now. There is one problem that some states have less currency and others have more. Government has formed state-wise committee and RBI also formed committee to transfer currency from one state to other. It will be done in three days."
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday claimed that Rs 2,000 notes were vanishing from the market, and alleged that there was a "conspiracy" behind it.
Addressing a farmers' convention, Chouhan said, "The currency worth Rs 15,00,000 crore was in circulation before demonetisation. After the demonitisation exercise, the currency in circulation increased to Rs. 16,50,000 crore. But notes of Rs. 2,000 are missing from the market."
He was referring to news reports of ATMs running out of money at some places in the state.
"Where these notes of Rs. 2,000 denomination are going, who are keeping them out of circulation? Who are the persons creating shortfall of cash? This is a conspiracy to create problems. The government will act tough on this," the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister said.
Chouhan added that he has taken up the issue with the Union Government.