Foreigners' agony over cash crunch in Canacona

Photo Credits: Foreign nationals standing in queue in Canacona become a daily affair

Foreigners' agony over cash crunch in Canacona

Taxi operators, bankers, hoteliers dismayed

THE GOAN NETWORK

CANACONA

Desperate and often angry foreign nationals queuing up outside ATMs in the taluka has now become a daily sight.

Desperation is largely felt in the entire coastal taluka of Canacona with many foreign nationals are running helter-skelter regretting their decision to land in the country at this time of year.

“Demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes at this time of a year is a big blow and setback to the tourism industry. The effect is felt everywhere by not only tourists, but by every local resident as well,” remarked former Agonda sarpanch Jovi Fernandes.

A resort owner at Agonda said, “They check in, but when we ask for payment, most foreign nationals express helplessness and say that they do not have cash. They then ask how they can get some cash. They say the banks don't provide them and also they cannot withdraw reasonable amounts from ATMs even after standing in long queues.”

“As we do not have card swipe machines, we have no other option but to ask the foreign nationals not having sufficient cash to vacate the rooms,” added the resort owner.

A taxi driver said due to non-availability of enough cash, no tourists are willing to go out for outstation visits or tours, dampening the tourism season of taxis and others.

A banker said, “Many tourists come equipped with over 3-4 ATM cards to get maximum cash withdrawals, leaving others standing behind to return empty handed. Due to this, we are now strictly

adhering to one person to use only one ATM card.”

According to sources, other than SBI ATM, most other ATMs operated by other banks load their ATM with just about Rs 1 lakh which gets exhausted within minutes.

Meanwhile, there is no end to the long queues outside the banks, especially SBI Chaudi branch, while most ATMs operated by several banks are functional only for a few minutes once loaded.