Money transfer firms giving cheque instead of cash

KOZHIKODE: Non-resident Keralites too are finding it difficult to transfer money home, using the instant cash transfer facilities offered by remittance companies, due to the currency crisis following demonetisation.
Most of the money transfer UR C firms have stopped disbursing cash to beneficiaries and are instead providing cheques, making the facility rather ineffectual. CR Under the instant money I transfer facility , the beneficiaries can receive the money from the collection points in the state the moment it is remitted at the money transfer firms abroad.
“My daughter had sent money from UAE through instant money transfer to meet my urgent needs.But the money exchange authorities expressed their inability to pay the amount by cash. Now I have to take the account payee cheque issued by them,“ Noorjahan K P , a housewife based in Ottapalam, said.
The authorities of UAE Exchange, a le ading remittance company , in Kozhikode said that they have stopped making cash payments for money transfers made thro ugh the Xpress Money service.
“Due to the cash crunch, we are unable to settle Xpress Money transaction thro ugh cash. Instead we are now trans RENC ferring the money to the bank ac counts of the beneficiaries onli Y ne or giving them cheques,“ Ja gadeesh K, branch manager of UAE Exchange at Kozhikode said. He said that the branch used andle around 60 express mo to handle around 60 express mo ney transactions a day before demonetisation. But now it has come down to around 15, he added.
Officials at branches of Western Union said that they too have started making cheque payments to beneficiaries of instant money transfer.
“We are giving cash payments only in extreme emergency cases like for meeting hospital expenses. For the rest of the instant money transfers we are paying by cheque,“ an official at the Western Union money exchange at Thrissur said.