Post-demonetization, the queues at the banks have become longer and longer, and wait is becoming worse for the people of India. To help the people of the country, Paytm has been working hard to integrate its digital wallet across all shops, big and small.
There are some startups and online portals that are going an extra mile to allow people to dispense cash from ATMs. One of them being BookMyChotu.com that allows you to hire a personal helper on per hour basis.
BookMyChotu.com gets you On Demand helpers on an hourly basis, all of which are over 18 years of age, for services such as basic cleaning, help in shifting, pre or post house party help, help in religious get togethers, help at the market, grocery shopping from nearby stores and other.
The website also clarifies that it doesn’t intend to hurt anyone’s sentiments by calling it Chotu. However, now with demonetization, the startup has also added the requirement of a helper at the ATMs. The working class doesn’t have time to stand in queues for over 3-4 hours and this seems the best solution for that.
One hour charge of hiring a helper is Rs. 90, for two hours it is Rs. 170 and goes all the way upto Rs. 550 for 8 hours. The prices seem nominal considering time is money, and the only thing that must be checked is background verification of these helpers.
These helpers can also be requested to go around different places and ATMs to withdraw upto the cash withdrawal limit. These helpers will stand in the queue for you, withdraw the money from the bank for such nominal charges.
For all the working population in India, there couldn’t have been a better time to request helpers for this work. Before going to work, book your helpers on the website here and breathe a sigh of relief.
Find ATMs with cash available online
There are certain crowdfunded platforms that can help you in location ATMs dispensing cash. Some of these can also tell you the wait times, and how much time it will take you to take out cash considering the queues and the amount loaded.
The first website that comes to my mind is cashnocash.com. All you have to do is enter your pin code and it’ll give you options around along with the status of cash, location of the ATM and the last time this information was updated. Since it is crowdfunded, the information might be outdated, so be sure of the location when going to the ATM.
The second website is CMS ATM Finder tool. As soon as you open the website, you enter the state and the city. Unfortunately it will only give you the ATMs that have cash, but not tell you the status of cash in them. Also, it will give you a complete list of the ATMs in the city, so it will not be very helpful in the metros.
Finally, Google Maps also has a feature to find ATMs around you. It will not give you the cash status but atleast you know what ATMs you can try. It is best in cases when you’re already out and want to see if there are any ATM machines around you could try.
Give these websites a try and find the ones that are least used and still have cash available. If possible, do contribute to these websites and let the information reach those that are in dire need of cash.
