Cashless ATMs caused panic among the mass in Bokaro following the nationwide bank strike called by employee unions to press for wage revision.

Banking services were hit causing inconvenience to people in the city since Friday – the first day of the two-day nationwide strike.

ATMs of almost all the banks either remained closed or displayed ‘No Cash’ boards which are eventually leading to a decline in currency circulation in the public.

Customers of both public and private banks have been complaining about their inability to access their own funds through ATMs, as most of the ATMs of various banks are running dry, at the same time people are not being able to access the PoS terminals for purchasing, said Dharmanth a Chas based businessman.

ATMs are showing zero cash and declining transactions, said Shankar a Canara Bank Siwandih Branch customer. Meanwhile, customers of several banks complained that the ATMs declined their transactions and showed zero balance even though they had sufficient funds in their account.

There are about 170 ATMs in the district and about 95 per cent are running dry from the past three days. For smoothly conducting banking, Bokaro needs Rs 1,100 crores cash daily, said a bank official.

S K Das, General Secretary of bank unions said, the strike has been called after talks on wage revision failed to reach on a positive note.

All nationalised, private and foreign lenders in the city remained closed responding to the strike call from Friday, he said.

The strike has been successful so far. If the higher-ups do not pay heed to our demands, we will call for another strike, said Das.