Hyderabad: Customers charged Rs 5 per Rs 100 as commission

Hyderabad: The shortage of cash in banks and ATMs in the state has prompted private outlets to become money exchangers and profit from it.  The customer who wants cash is told to swipe his debit card and enter the required amount. If he wants Rs 10,000, he is told to enter Rs 10,500. The Rs 500 is the commission charged by the trader at the rate of Rs 5 per Rs 100. Those in need of urgent cash or those in need of higher amounts ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh are made to pay a higher commission of Rs 10. 

Banks started imposing 'unofficial cash withdrawal restrictions’ in January this year because they were not receiving sufficient cash to pay customers. In urban areas, customers can withdraw up to Rs 25,000 per day, while in semi-urban and rural areas, the cap is Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively. Even to avail this facility, customers are forced to wait in banks for hours together. Thus the move to private traders, who are exploiting the situation by charging commission.

"When I approached private traders for Rs 30,000 cash in Nalgonda, they demanded Rs 1,500 as commission. They asked me to swipe my debit card and enter Rs 31,500, as Rs 5 will be the commission charged for every Rs 100. They told me that if I needed Rs 50,000 and above, the commission would be Rs 10 per Rs 100,” said K.V. Venkataramana, a building contractor who needs to pay wages to his daily labourers in cash every day. Complaints have been received by the state-level bankers' committee. “We are inquiring into these complaints and directing bank managers not to issue multiple swiping machines to any firms to check this menace,” said an official of the state level bankers committee.