An undue delay in the supply of new ATM cards by India Post Post Office Savings Bank is causing difficulties to card users, particularly pensioners and senior citizens. In the absence of ATM cards, they have to wait in queues to withdraw money from their savings account.

ATM cards held by many postal pensioners across the city expired long ago, and the pensioners have been waiting since then for issuance of new cards. Admitting that there were delays in the despatch of new ATM cards from the central office, sources in India Post said that measures were being taken to minimise the woes of POSB ATM cardholders in urban areas, by procuring unsold cards in some Agency and rural post offices, and supplying them to urban users, who use them at India Post ATMs to avoid rush at post offices to draw money from their accounts to meet their needs.

The POSB card users, however, say that these cards were issued long ago and their validity was scheduled to expire in a few months. This means they will have to run around the post offices once again to get new cards after a few months.

“Many senior citizens are waiting in queues at various post offices in the city to draw money from their POSB accounts. Sometimes in the absence of facilities inside the post offices, they are squatting on the available wooden and stone benches available outside the offices. The POSB cards can also be used at ATMs of various banks for five transactions without any extra charges,” said a pensioner from the city, who preferred anonymity.

“A total of 10,622 ATM cards are available at various post offices in Visakhapatnam Postal Region. They are exhausted at some post offices. We are meeting the shortage by procuring unused cards from Agency and rural areas, where is hardly any demand for ATM cards,” says an official, who doesn’t want to be quoted. He, however, admitted that there was a shortage of new ATM cards, but added that the available cards were valid till February 2026.