Port Blair, Nov 19 2020
The residents of Kamorta are facing a lot of problems because of non-availability of any functioning ATM’s in the Island. The Govt. Servants working in various departments are the worst sufferers since they need to visit the bank during the duty hours to withdraw cash.
Kamorta Island has two ATM’s currently one each of State Bank of India and Andaman and Nicobar State Cooperative Bank Limited. The ANSCB ATM is not woking since a long time and the State Bank of India ATM has also stopped working.
The residents now have no choice but only to visit the bank branches to withdraw cash. The Govt. Servants posted at Kamorta are demanding immediate repair of the ATM’s of the Island for their convenience.
During the times of the pandemic it is essential to reduce the crowds in banks and ATM’s are really effective in providing convenience to the customers of the bank to withdraw cash anytime. ATM’s have become an essential part of the banking system and in todays world one cannot really think of a life without the convenience of ATM’s.
It is also been reported that in the recent past the State Bank of India Branch at Kamorta saw huge queues of residents who were visiting the branch to avail banking services especially to withdraw money. The State Bank of India Branch at Kamorta is also reportedly understaffed. There are only three staffs in the bank including the Security Guard. Since the ATM of the bank was also not functional the staffs had a hard time managing the crowd of customers.
The State Bank of India should ensure that the bank branches are well staffed and the essential facilities for convenience of the customers such as ATM’s should be functional at all times to avoid inconvenience to the residents of these remote Islands.