Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the note ban, there has been a chaos among the people of the country. While exchanging currencies continues to remain a major challenge, withdrawing cash is yet another pressing concern.
Most ATMs are either out of cash or have long queues, making it difficult for people to withdraw money with ease. In an effort to help people cope with the demonetisation side effects, Ola came up with a workable solution.
India's prominent cab aggregator has partnered with Indian banks to help dispense cash by swiping debit cards at select Ola cabs. This is a pilot programme run by Ola and currently operational in Kolkata and Hyderabad, but plans to expand to other cities, including New Delhi, are already underway.
Ola has partnered with Punjab National Bank to execute the new mobile ATM service in Kolkata and collaborated with State Bank of India and Andhra Bank for the same in Hyderabad. The test run is already live in the aforementioned cities and it will run till the end of the month.
In case you are wondering how to find the mobile ATMs in your city, Ola has revealed the popular destinations. In Kolkata, the cabs with a bank officer and POS machines will be parked at busiest locations of the cities such as Chandni Chowk Metro Station, Esplanade Metro, Barabazaar, Salt Lake, Exide and Rashbehari in Kolkata and KBR Park, JNTU, Inorbit Mall in Hyderabad, Ola Chief Operating Officer Pranay Jivrajka told PTI.
The withdrawal limit for each debit card is Rs. 2,000, same as the ATMs across the country. Jivrajka said that the initial response to the programme has been tremendous, but also noted that the usage of mobile wallet transactions has shot through the roof.
"The number of trips paid in cash has certainly gone down. More people are now paying using digital platforms like Ola Money and credit/debit cards," he said.
According to Ola, its mobile wallet service Ola Money witnessed a 1,500 percent spike in recharges ever since the demonetisation came into play. Other mobile wallet companies such as Paytm also recorded staggering growth in online transactions.
