The banks have made extra efforts to cater to the high traffic on ATMs before Eid after the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) decided it would take stern action against banks which would fail to provide round the clock services to their customers. Special teams of SBP would pay surprise visits to ATMs and would impose heavy penalties if any machine is found out of order.
According to SBP rules, the banks are also bound to ensure that ATMs shall be continuously replenished on regular intervals during Eid holidays. Government and private employees are getting salaries by Tuesday and it is expected that the banks would face rush of thousands of people and at least Rs12-15 billion would be withdrawn from the banks through Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) during the Eid holidays, which would start from Wednesday and last till Sunday. The Punjab government would transfer salaries and pensions of its employees by Tuesday and around Rs15 billion would be paid to the employees. Similarly, majority of private and semi-private companies have transferred the salaries of their employees while some would do it by Tuesday, which would be the final working day. Therefore, it is expected that a large number of people would turn to banks for withdrawing money through cheques while many would use ATMs. It is expected that ATMs would have to fulfill the needs of thousands of customers.
Banking industry sources said that the majority of banks have assigned special teams for filling the ATMs. These teams would work in two shifts and in banks where the number of customers are more, there will be three shifts. As per bank rules, cash department of the every bank is responsible for filling the ATMs. Every ATM has the capacity of having Rs2 to 2.5 million and it is filled on daily basis. “During Eid days, the bank officials are bound to fill the machine twice a day so that the customers can take cash easily,” said a senior banker of a private bank adding that on this Eid, the central bank has issued strict instructions. “We have taken special measures to fill the machines,” he said adding that the banks are very much afraid of central bank’s measures. “The SBP can impose fines in case of closure of ATMs,” he said adding the log of every bank’s ATM is maintained and if ATM goes out of service then the central bank imposes fines. SBP Spokesman Syed Waseemuddin said that the central bank has advised all banks to meticulously comply with its guidelines and instructions regarding management of ATMs in order to ensure continuous availability service during Eid holidays.
He said that SBP has also deputed special inspection, which would carry out surprise inspections of ATMs installed at various cities/towns throughout the country. He said heavy penalties under the relevant laws would be imposed on those banks, which fail to comply with the guidelines and instructions regarding management of ATM operations and monitoring of ATM downtime. The SBP spokesman said that banks had already been advised by SBP to make adequate back-up arrangements to ensure availability of ATM service round the clock and put in place comprehensive operating procedures to resolve any problems. He said that SBP had also asked the banks to deploy appropriate staff to address problems that may cause ATM malfunctioning or cash outage incidents, besides introducing a 24/7 helpline to resolve the day-to-day operational issues at ATMs. The helpline should also be accessible through special phone terminals placed inside all ATM booths/cabins. “Banks are required to ensure that these phones are in working order,” he added.
