BENGALURU: Since last weekend, most ATMs have been running dry across Bengaluru. With the month-end coinciding with the weekend, most citizens were greeted with ‘no-cash’ boards in the past few days.With people looking to withdraw salaries, long queues resurfaced in front of many kiosks on Saturday, reminding one of the post-demonetization period. The situation hadn’t improved even on Tuesday. “I visited seven kiosks but six were shut. I finally managed to get cash from an SBI ATM to pay my house rent,” said Santhosh B, an MTech student.While a few ATMs of SBI and Syndicate Bank dispensed cash, most ATMs belonging to other nationalized banks, including Canara Bank , displayed the ‘no-cash’ board. “There may be multiple reasons for this. I cannot comment on the issue,” said MM Chiniwar, general manager of Canara Bank, Bengaluru Circle.Senior officials from a public sector bank, however, sought to attribute the cash crunch at ATMs to RBI’s move to lift withdrawal limits on March 13. Since then, banks have seen an upsurge in bulk cash withdrawals at counters and are holding on to their cash reserves to cater to customers’ needs.“After March 13, there has been a rise in bulk withdrawals. Most banks, including our branch, are holding back cash and not sending it to currency chests, from where money is supplied to ATMs. This is one of the main reasons why ATMs are not getting replenished,” said a senior manager in Syndicate Bank.People are seen rushing to banks to withdraw money as there is a withdrawal limit at ATMs — ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 depending on the type of debit card. “Reports about some banks levying transaction fee after four withdrawals from ATMs could also be a reason for people preferring to visit counters,” said the Syndicate Bank official.Bank officials said dwindling cash supply from RBI is also a reason for the liquidity crunch. An official said while the demand from his bank branch was Rs 40 crore for a week, the currency chest supplied only Rs 12.5 crore.“The emphasis is more on a cashless economy, and banks cannot expect RBI to supply as and when they demand. Cash flow is expected to reduce in the near future,” said a senior RBI official.WhatsApp messages about a permanent shutdown of ATMs went viral, alluding to cashless ATMs and Niti Ayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement last week that credit and debit cards and ATMs will soon disappear as the country moves towards a cashless economy.‘Month-end demand’Siva Nayanar, chief general manager (retail banking) of State Bank of Mysore which was recently merged with SBI, said no systemic reason could be attached to the cash crunch witnessed at ATMs. “Cash supply from RBI to our branches is normal. May be the demand during the month-end was more, which could have led to ATMs getting emptied quickly. I expect the situation to improve in a day or two,” said Nayanar.