Post demonetisation, there has been an increase in opening of savings accounts at the General Post Office (GPO), Ashoka Road.
With banks not only falling short of cash but also being unable in providing effective service to most of its customers, many people are now turning towards opening their accounts at the GPO. Most of the customers mentioned that despite some challenges, there are less hassles in conducting financial transactions at the GPO.
Senior officials highlighted that a major difficulty faced at GPO is having a withdrawal limit of only Rs 4,000 and they are trying to increase the limit. They maintained, however, that unlike in most other financial institutions where cash runs out within hours, there was no such problem at the post offices of the city. “There are six counters which have been dedicated solely for serving customers who have come for either depositing or withdrawing their money. There has been a steady increase in the number of people trying to do transactions at the post offices and we too are facing the pressure but are able to serve our customers well,” said a senior official at GPO.
The official further added: “After November 8, we saw a huge demand in opening of savings bank accounts at our post office. For around two weeks, there were eighty savings accounts that were opened daily. It has now slightly reduced but the figure remains at around forty. We do face challenges of a lower withdrawal limit of Rs 4,000 and occasionally servers going down but by and large we have been able to sustain pretty well.” Gaurav Srivastav, who holds a savings account at the post office said: “Unlike in banks where the minimum amount for savings accounts have to be Rs 10,000, over here, there are no such rules. I have found that the staff are more transparent in their dealings.”