ATM Machines Out Of Order, Links Down:
Card holders’ panic not over even on the 2nd of Ramadan
The ATM machines throughout the country that were allegedly shut down deliberately in a bid to stop the account holders who used to withdraw money one day prior to deduction of Zakat have failed to resume working even on the eve of 1st Ramadan.
The residents of the twin cities have been worst-affected due to this problem as most of them belong to the salaried class and they were unable to withdraw salaries even on 2nd of August. This has indeed made the ‘maiden Fast’ of the people less enjoyable without having money to buy the necessary items and eatables for ‘Sehr’ as well as ‘Iftar’.
The happiness and excitement that used to be the trademark of people on the arrival of Ramadan was dampened by the strange behaviour of these machines as most of the people returned home without buying the necessary items owing to their inability to cash out their salaries – the only hope for the salaried class.
“It is very strange that the banks have tried to deprive us of our money by limiting access to the money that is ours. It has been done on the directives of the government as a bank official has confided me,” alleged Muhammad Ramzan, who was standing outside UBL, Murree Road Branch, Bhara Kaho, on Tuesday.
“It is a pity that a Bank Holiday is being observed today and it is adding to the miseries of the people. It is like adding salt to our injuries. We can neither withdraw money using our ATM as the ‘links are down’, nor can we use a cheque to cash it out,” he added.
Scores of people were seen on the evening of Monday who kept waiting in long queues in front of the ATM machines waiting for their turn and when it came finally they had to face disappointment as machines claimed that the ‘Issuer’s Link is Down’.
It is very surprising that though government had announced that the minimum limit for deduction of Zakat is more than 61 thousand rupees, why the employees with salary as low as 6 times lesser were deprived the right to have access to their money that they had been waiting for the whole month and they were no way near the minimum limit to be eligible for deduction of Zakaat on the 1st of Ramadan.