Share this story!            

Empty, faulty ATMs anger shoppers on Chaand Raat

KARACHI: The automated teller machines (ATMs) of almost all the banks frustrated their customers on Chaand Raat (Tuesday night) despite State Bank’s instructions to ensure availability of cash on Eid.

According to a survey, disappointed shoppers were seen in long queues at ATMs in the main shopping areas of Saddar, Tariq Road, Haidri market and Boulton Market late Tuesday to get cash for doing their last minute Eid shopping. Most of them returned home empty handed when they failed to get cash despite lots of tries at different ATMs. An official of a leading bank said that rush for cash withdrawal at ATMs depleted all the money in a few hours and it was not possible to refill ATMs in time in late hours. Sabir Ali, a customer of a leading bank said that he tried several ATMs but failed to withdraw Rs 5,000 in Saddar area when he ran out of cash. I had tried ATMs of three banks, but they were showing a message of failure from issuers. One ATM was out of money while another was showing a message ‘out of order’, he added. Tasleem Rana, a customer accompanied with the family said he was badly needed cash but failed to get it while shopping at Tariq Road. “A lot of banks had installed ATM on Tariq Road but non of them issued me cash when I was badly needed it,” he added. He said that this is not the first time that ATMs had disappointed him at the time of need. Mostly, ATMs are out of order or out of cash after 9 p.m. in normal days, he noted.

Similarly, the largest ATM network operator in Pakistan 1LINK has also urged all member banks to ensure the availability of their ATM service during Eid holidays so that customers can withdraw money.

The spokesman of 1LINK had said on Tuesday, that due to limited banking hours in Ramazan and rush of customers for EID shopping till late nights, ATM service is the only source of cash withdrawal for customers to meet their financial needs. app

Home | Business

Share this story!