Banks have failed to follow Bangladesh Bank’s instructions to keep ATM booths in service during the Eid holidays.

There is a 10-day holiday from June 5 to June 14 on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha. Banks are also closed during this holiday.

As a result, ATM booths have become the only hope for withdrawing cash. But during this long Eid holiday, the booths have not provided the desired service. Customers are facing hardships.

Most of the ATMs in Dhaka city are now out of service or out of operation. The same is true of ATMs located in different districts.

The central bank announced in a circular on May 29 that all scheduled banks in the country will have to provide sufficient money to their ATM booths to allow customers to make smooth financial transactions during the Eid holiday. 

Bangladesh Bank instructs commercial banks every year before Eid to keep sufficient money in the booths and have a system for refilling around the clock. But in reality, this is not reflected.

Several bank officials told UNB that ATM booths are usually operated in two ways – one is a booth attached to the bank branch, and the other is a separate or independent booth. The booths adjacent to the branch are operated by that branch. 

Since the banks were closed last Thursday during the Eid holiday, new money could not be deposited in these booths because all the branch officials were on leave.  However, some banks have taken special initiatives and have kept some officials in charge only for filling money in ATMs. 

As a result, although some booths had money, most were empty.

An official of Bangladesh Bank said, “We have already given instructions so that sufficient money is kept in each booth.”

However, there are complaints at the field level that many banks are not following those instructions.