Tender' loving bunkdovast!

The saga continues! Getting moolah is still extremely irksome for many, what with the unending long queues outside most banks and ATMs. While the angst and frustration seems to be on the rise, looks like there’s a silver lining at the end of every cloud. Now, you can zoom into any petrol station, and swipe your debit card for cash. We speak to city youngsters on what they feel about this novel facility to dispense cash from your neighbourhood gas station.

Since demonetisation has come into place, withdrawal of notes has become an issue with many people having to spend hours at the banks. Fuel stations will come to our rescue in a couple of days. RJ Disha Oberoi who has also been facing the money crunch adds, “It’s only at limited gas stations across India. Currently it’s only at 2500 petrol pumps. I hope everyone gets to use this soon. Bank queues have still not eased out - albeit the inking. ATM lines in cities should trim down too, and another outlet in the form of gas stations wouldn't be too bad. I’m sure it'll be open to reassessment once it rolls out. But a big thumbs up to the attempt made.” “In this age of cashless transactions, we should embrace what is often missed – simplicity! The thought of swiping your debit/credit card for cash is as good as money laundering. So it’s an absolute no no,” says Manoj Nama, co-founder, Smart Earth.

This week onwards, the pump attendants might be your go-to guys just like the bank tellers. Next time you need to draw Rs 2000, all you need to do is to swipe your cards. “Dispensing cash through petrol pumps is a government order which has just been issued for ease of access to getting cash and avoid long queues at banks. Thankfully, state owned petrol pump owners stood up to support the government to bring the present situation under control to help mitigate people’s cash needs. It also shows that petrol pump owners’ service orientation towards a national cause of black money. It’s a great move and I’m hoping to start availing this facility soon,” says Rajagopal Thulasidasan, head of business intelligence, Mena, Nispana innovative platforms.

This move will surely ease the current frenzy for new currency notes at ATMs and bank branches and functional ATMs. But, someone who thinks otherwise is Komal Shah. She adds, “It’s a great move, but it might be convenient to those who are in a rush to just fill their tanks.” Nagaraj BM of Coco Koramangala gas station confirms, “About 15-20 petrol pumps have already started the service and we will be starting this week. Customers can come with their debit card and our cashiers will hand out cash up to Rs 2,000 in a day.”