Ludhiana, April 19 : Easy cash is in a big trouble. If ATMs spewing counterfeit money across the country weren’t enough, damaged currency notes have made their way to ATMs in the industrial city. And what is worse, banks refuse to accept torn notes dispensed by machines installed by them as transaction slips don’t provide any proof of their ATM dispensing the same. Customers complain of getting torn, mutilated, burnt, cut and pasted notes from ATMs. Avtar Singh, a city resident, had withdrawn cash from an ATM. When he was counting the notes, he was shocked to see a torn note with a tape on it. His woes did not end here. When he contacted an official of the bank concerned, he refused to change the note saying there was no proof that the note was dispensed to him by their ATM. He said it was a serious matter and the RBI should take strict action against banks circulating damaged notes. The damaged notes should be replaced by the bank concerned, he said. “Recently, when I withdrew money from an ATM, I noticed that two notes were torn and one was fixed with a tape. When I approached the bank, officials there expressed their helplessness in replacing the notes,” said Gagan, a teacher.
Enquiries revealed that despite specific instructions from the RBI, some banks, due to outsourcing and shortage of manpower, are not ensuring that all notes issued by them are authentic. They resort to random tests on cash sorting machines. A senior official from a private bank said: “Since a person has no proof that the specific note was withdrawn from our ATM, we are unable to replace it. The bank replaces soiled and tear notes by cutting a specific amount and customers can get their notes replaced.”
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