People have been suffering from a severe cash money shortage amid a countrywide curfew, general holidays and an internet blackout in the country for the past few days.
People have been unable to use banking applications or mobile financial services to withdraw cash for bearing their daily expenses since July 18.
The mobile internet and broadband have remained shut since July 18 amid the countrywide protests and demonstrations surrounding quota reform.
As the banks and internet-based financial services were shut, people resorted to automated teller machines of banks as the last option.
They, however, found either the ATM booth shut or there was no money in it.
After visiting some ATM booths in the capital Dhaka, it was found that almost all ATM booths remained shut.
A number of banks, however, claimed that their ATM services were up and running.
Private jobholder Ashiqur Rahman said that he went to the ATM booth of a private commercial bank at Buddhamondhir at Basabo on Monday to withdraw cash to buy essential commodities, but he found the booth shut.
He said that he had run out of cash and could not make essential shopping.
A Sonali Bank employee, Zahidur Rahman, said that people had recently become increasingly dependent on card-based transactions, and they did not keep cash money in their hands now-a-days considering security issues.
He said that he went to several ATM booths of a bank, but could not withdraw cash money to bear daily necessary expenses.
Zahidur said that he used to use a mobile financial service to withdraw cash money, but could not use the MFS service due to internet blackout.
At last he had to take loan from one of his relatives to bear the expenses.
He said, 鈥業 used to pay electricity and gas bill through banking apps or MFS in my mobile phone, which is not possible right now.鈥�
The government imposed a curfew across the country from midnight past Friday, as the unrests centring quota reform protests in the country were on the surge and more than one hundred people were killed and several thousand others got injured till Friday in clashes across the country, starting from July 16.
The government also announced general holiday for Sunday and Monday and on Monday, it extended the holiday to today, keeping most of the offices, including banks, shut.