As much as 70 per cent of the ATMs in Kerala remain shut, or partially so, at the end of the second week after the Prime Minister announced demonetisation of high-value notes.

The state has close to 9,000 ATMs in all, but shortage of adequate notes in the new series as also those of lower denomination has forced at least a third to down shutters, more so in the second-rung towns and villages.

Only public sector banks such as State Bank of India and State Bank of Travancore have shown a sense of commitment in terms of efforts at running the ATMs at the urban centres, Jayamohan, an IT professional based in Technopark, said.

Some of the other banks continue to keep the newly-arrived Rs 500 notes at their offices despite instructions from the Reserve Bank that these should be used to fill the recalibrated ATM trays, sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman of State Bank of India said that the first indent of Rs 500 crore notes in the new series amounting to Rs 10 crore received by it has been sent for refilling to its ATMs across the state.

But it would need at least Rs 400 crore worth of these notes to meet the demand, he said. The bank expected more consignments to reach the state by road and rail during the rest of the week.

Other sources said that the regional office of the Reserve Bank had received Rs 40 crore worth of these notes a couple of days ago. These were airlifted by an Antonov-32 aircraft of the IAF that arrived here on Monday.

A container load is now expected to reach the Reserve Bank office during the course of this week. This is expected to relieve the cash availability position to some extent, the sources said.

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