The Union Bank of India said about 15-20% of its ATMs were currently out of cash and that it had met with the Reserve Bank to discuss the current situation.

The bank also said ATMs had dried up faster than expected, and that normalcy was expected to be restored within a few days.

Dinabandhu Mohapatra, MD and CEO of Bank of India, said the government had asked banks to waive cash handling charges, and added the cash shortage was due to certain occasions such as New Year in some states and harvest season.

The Union Government, which has been monitoring the situation, has asked all public sector banks to ensure that their ATMs were functional and in order by 9:30 AM on Wednesday.

The government has also asked the banks to ensure a steady supply of cash to all its branches.

The government said Rs 2000 notes were being pressured due to a lack of Rs 500 notes, and stepped up printing of the smaller denomination notes by about five times.

A cash crunch in about seven states in the country saw citizens lining up outside ATMs, in a reminder of the post-demonetisation era cash woes.

While the government and the central bank lined up to assuage cash-shortage fears, the opposition lashed out, saying the government was unable to manage the banking system in the country.

The Reserve Bank, and the State bank of India, however, has looked to play down worries of a cash shortage. The central bank said it had sufficient currency in its vaults and currency chests.

The central bank also said it had ramped up the printing of notes at all of its four printing presses. Shortage of cash could be felt due to logistical delays, as the ATMs are refilled, the Bank warned, and added that the recalibration of ATMs was still underway.

The availability of cash at SBI ATMs had improved in the last 24 hours and efforts were being made to improve cash availability further in a few geographies, Neeraj Vyas, Chief Operating Officer of SBI, said.

"Overall issue of less cash should come to normalcy within soonest possible time. We are constantly monitoring the situation and making immense efforts to ensure the supply of currency in abundance at all our ATMs,” he added.

SBI Chairman Rajnish Kumar on Tuesday had said the public-sector bank had been supplied with sufficient cash by the RBI and that about 55 percent of ATMs had been configured to dispense the new Rs 200 notes.

He, however, had no answer as to why cash withdrawals had seen a sudden spike from January to about Rs 18.29 lakh crore.

First Published:Apr 18, 2018 9:36 AM IST