Reports suggest officials of the finance ministry have held a meeting with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last Thursday, to take stock of the situation. Sources have told NDTV that RBI has directed banks with surplus cash to help other banks facing a shortage of funds. There is a mismatch of demand and supply of cash, say sources.
Here are the live updates on the cash crunch situation in various states:
If RBI has injected sufficient cash, it is obliged to tell the people why there is a cash shortage.
- P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 17, 2018
As a rule, cash supply must grow at the same rate as the economy is growing. The cash shortage may be because cash supply has been arbitrarily reduced.
- P. Chidambaram (@PChidambaram_IN) April 17, 2018
- A government is obliged to provide as much cash as the people need at any given time. Government or RBI cannot arbitrarily control the supply of cash.
- As a rule, cash supply must grow at the same rate as the economy is growing. The cash shortage may be because cash supply has been arbitrarily reduced.
- If RBI has injected sufficient cash, it is obliged to tell the people why there is a cash shortage.
This situation is not restricted to the state, it is there in the entire country. It is true that the notes of Rs 2000 which amounts to a currency of 7 lakh crore have gone out of supply leading to such a situation: Jayant Kumar Malaiya, MP Finance Minister pic.twitter.com/UCDJZkEak5
- ANI (@ANI) April 17, 2018
- We have taken steps to increase the supply of currency in case the demand were to go up further.
- To give you an example, Rs 500 notes -- we print about 500 crore of notes per day. We have taken steps to raise this production five times.
- Very soon, in the next couple of days, we will have a supply of about Rs 2,500 crore worth of Rs 500 notes per day. In a month, supply would be about Rs 70,000-75,000 crore. These notes alone can more than meet the demand of any month
The cash crunch in India has created anger as well as panic on Twitter, where many have shared their discontent. Hashtags "CashCrunch" and "ATMs" are top trends.
The Congress has questioned whether the situation was the result of "gross mismanagement or a deliberate move". "Modi-ji has destroyed the banking system. Nirav Modi fled with Rs. 30,000 crore and the PM didn't utter a word. We were forced to stand in queues as he snatched 500-1000 rupee notes from our pockets and put in Nirav Modi's pocket," party chief Rahul Gandhi said.
The Government of India with the Reserve Bank of India have taken all steps to meet this unusual demand. We had adequate reserves of currency notes which have been used to meet fully the extraordinary demand generated so far
- Ministry of Finance (@FinMinIndia) April 17, 2018
In the next week, things will start coming back to normalcy. There is a department which monitors situations like this. This is not new. RBI has been given an indent to increase the flow of Rs 500 notes in the system, he added.
Mr Kumar also said that, this is a temporary situation which is mainly due to geographical factors. There is one solution for it that a proper cash management system be maintained.
Reports ATMs running dry in many areas of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana.
"The Government has set up state-wise committee and RBI has also formed a committee to transfer currency from one state to other because for money transfer you need the permission of the RBI. It (the shortage) will be solved in 2-3 days," Mr Shukla said.
Mr Jaitley in a tweet said that he has reviewed the currency situation in the country.
Finance Minister @arunjaitley on #cashcrunch at ATMs: "More than adequate currency in circulation, temporary shortage being tackled quickly" pic.twitter.com/swHtkgXYYM
- NDTV (@ndtv) April 17, 2018
News reports say that ATMs around the country are running of out cash. Is it just gross mismanagement by the Modi Govt or is this a deliberate move? #IndiaSpeaks
- Congress (@INCIndia) April 17, 2018
ATMs were empty in November 2016. ATMs are empty now. And the only party flush with cash is the BJP: the people suffer.
- Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) April 17, 2018
Many ATMs in Patna are also out of service.
In Gujarat's Vadodara, people complained about the inconvenience due to lack of currency in ATMs.
The situation is same in Delhi. Most of the ATMs are not dispensing cash, the ones which are dispensing, have only Rs 500 notes.
The situation is same in Madhya Pradesh. People in Bhopal are also facing the same difficulty since past 15 days and are unable to withdraw cash.
In Varanasi people said they don't know what and where the problem is but the common man is facing a lot of difficulty because of the money not being alleviate in ATMs. Some have been infact visiting ATMs since morning as they need to pay the admission fees of children and purchase groceries and vegetables.
In Hyderabad people said, they have been unable to withdraw cash from ATMs. The have been trying since yesterday and the situation is same every where.
- There are reports of non- availability of cash at ATMs in several states
- In Hyderabad, Varanasi and Bhopal people say no cash at ATMs
- Reports of cash crunch at ATMs have brought back memories of November 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a midnight announcement said old notes will be scrapped.