Only the Left parties, the CPI(M) and CPI, have called for a 12-hour bandh (strike) in West Bengal. In photo: People wait in line to withdraw money from a mobile ATM machine in New Delhi. Photograph:( AFP )
To try and ease the cash crunch following last week's decision to demonetise 500- and 1,000-rupee notes, the Indian government said Thursday that select petrol pumps would be allowed to dispense up to Rs 2,000 to customers against their debit or credit cards.
To start with, the facility will be available at 2,500 petrol pumps around the country.
"It has been decided that an amount up to Rs 2,000 per day per person in cash can be dispensed against swiping of debit card from select petrol pumps where Point of Sale (PoS) machines of State Bank of India are already available," an official told Indian news agency PTI.
The facility will in time be extended to 20,000 petrol pumps.
(WION with inputs from PTI)
