Ahead of Onam holidays, ATMs in Kerala run out of cash
- The banking sector in Kerala will be closed for business for five days in a row.
- Most of the ATM cash pits got exhausted by Saturday evening.
- ATM service in the rural areas and small cities were hit on Sunday morning.
FollowFestival season comes with its share of joy and miseries too. Hardly a day after the long holiday for Bakrid and Onam started on Saturday in the state, a good majority of ATMs in rural areas and small towns ran out of cash by Sunday morning.
Following reports that the banking sector will be closed for five days starting from 10 September, majority of customers had withdrawn money from ATMs in advance.Â
The attempts to withdraw money on Sunday were turned down by many ATMs, and people had to run from one kiosk to another, only to receive a regret message from the bank. This affected the shopping-spree ahead of Onam, the national festival of Kerala.Â
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Considering the plight, the state government through State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) has directed to take necessary steps to ensure uninterrupted service of ATM counters.
Meanwhile, banks have assured that cash refilling work at the ATMs has been outsourced to the private companies and hence ATM service would not be hit during the holidays.
