SRINAGAR: With Eid just a day away, the markets in Kashmir are deserted and wherever footfalls are better, not much business is reported. However, there are hopes that Saturday, Eid eve will be better and busier.
Informed sources told Kashmir Life that the people have withdrawn more than Rs 1000 crore of cash till 6 pm from Jammu and Kashmir Bank alone, till 6 pm. JK Bank is the main financial institution of Jammu and Kashmir managing more than two-thirds of deposits and loans.
During the day, there have been 221003 cash withdrawals using the JK Bank-owned ATMs. These transactions led to the withdrawal of Rs 153.72 crore. Besides, the bank’s own clients use the bank’s ATMs on other bank ATMs as well. There were 47545 cash withdrawals using JK Bank ATM cards on non-JK Bank ATMs which led to a cash withdrawal of Rs 24.04 crore.
The bank also runs a network of POS (point of sale) machines. There were 81210 successful purchase transactions involving POS and Ecommerce using JK Bank Debit Cards. It led to the expenditure of Rs 10.93 crore.
The day witnessed an impressive use of mPay application. There were a total of 641648 transactions and it involved a cash transfer of Rs 565 crore.
The bank’s clientele continued using the UPI system in as many as 395059 transactions involving a total of Rs 94 crore.
Besides, there were 22475 e-banking transactions that involved transfer and withdrawal of Rs 231 crore.
Reports from various Srinagar markets and other peripheral markets suggest that not much business was taking place. Even in markets that had better footfalls, it did not lead to better business. In this backdrop, a quick withdrawal of Rs 1077 crore may help in better businesses on Saturday.
Eid falls on Sunday. This Eid is mostly about animal sacrifices and most of the purchases will take place in 40 hours starting Saturday morning.
