Quick buck for bikers: ATM withdrawal a job in villages

MALDA: Amir Hamza Shiekh from Jalalpur has found a new job after demonetisation. With a low number of masonry jobs in town, Amir is making the best use of his motorbike. He wakes up early and carries ATM cards from the villagers to withdraw cash at English Bazar. His relatives and neighbours give him their PINs so Amir can queue up at the town ATMs and keep swiping the cards, taking out Rs 2,000 against each card every day.For each withdrawal, he gets Rs 100 from the card holder.
Villagers have little option but to trust their neighbours. With most of the rural branches falling short of cash and rural ATMs running dry, they have to bank on these neighbours for cash.
“I am not alone. I start for the town with four of my friends. And instead of masonry tools, now we carry ATM cards of villagers,” Amir said. TOI spotted him in front of an ATM at Sukanta More in Malda Town. “Sometimes I have to come to town twice a day. It all depends on the demand for cash.”
The men travel 25km to reach the town ATM. “These ATMs cater to far-off villages in Kaliachak, Sujapur and Jalalpur. My aunt Renu Biwi has an ATM card. How can she travel so far? She has given her card to me,” said Amir, who stood in queue with his friend Safikul.
Nes Mohammed from Samsi, 50km away from Malda Town, charges lower than Amir for the withdrawals. “My neighbours give me Rs 50 to Rs 100 per withdrawal,” he said. Samsi covers a host of bank branches, both public and private, as well as ATMs. “None of them have enough cash reserve. Most of the ATMs remain closed and the bank branches that are open run out of cash,” Nes said.
He manages the travel expenses by taking a bus. “It costs me Rs 40 to come to Malda Town. It takes a whole day standing in the queue. For that, I charge a pittance,” he said, while his friends Asidur and Mijanur stood at a distance. Asked why villagers give them their PINs, Nes said: “It all works on mutual trust.”
Tapan Sarkar of Pakuahat, 40km from Malda, does the same job. Though Sarkar said that the situation has improved a little in some villages, there has been no remarkable change in his area.
“The cash crunch remains, which is why I have to come to Malda Town every day. There is a sharp divide between the situations in rural and urban Bengal,” Sikdar said.