Technical glitch makes man rich

A snag leaves a customer's account full of cash at an ATM centre; he withdraws the money, absconds

A snag leaves a customer's account full of cash at an ATM centre; he withdraws the money, absconds

With just Rs 563 in his savings bank account, Narasimhau00a0 Murthy (28), was thrilled when he realised he could withdraw cash beyond his existing balance amount due to a technical glitch with an ATM machine. Murthy ended up withdrawing 1.20 lakh and is now absconding.


Here today, goneu00a0 tomorrow: Narasimha Murthy drew Rs 1.20 lakh
from an ATM centre, and went absconding. Representation pic

Yogesh V Krishna, manager, State Bank of Mysore, Kormangala branch, has alleged that Murthy has withdrawn cash beyond his balance limit. He said, "Murthy, a resident of Tavarkere has used his ATM card and withdrawn cash of Rs 1.20 lakh from the ATM centre of another bank in Koramangala, Raheja Towers."

According to Krishna, on 29 August, the bank's ATM machines had a migrated from BASE 24 switch to the new OPUS switch. Due to a technical glitch, customers could withdraw cash even when their account had insufficient balance.

Many customers had faced the same situation and had alerted the staff, and few others even repaid the amount they had withdrawn. But Muthy simply took the money, and went underground.

"We have made a demand for a repayment. He has failed to do this which is why a criminal case has been registered," said Krishna. The Koramangala police have registered a cheating case and are looking for the accused who is said to be absconding.