Festive Season Silence At ATM Booths As Durg Slips Into Digital Payments

Long festive queues outside ATM booths in <b>Durg district</b> have vanished as digital transactions take over traditional cash withdrawals. According to recent banking data, cash withdrawals from ATMs have dropped by <b>27 percent</b> over the last three years, while UPI-based digital payments have surged by <b>36 percent</b>. While none of the <b>295 ATMs</b> in the district have been officially shut down, the pace of installing new cash machines has completely ground to a halt. The massive shift toward smartphones and QR code scanning has permanently changed how common people manage their daily money matters during major festivals like Diwali. Even though cash is still used for small vendors, the convenience of instant mobile transfers has made physical wallet trips almost obsolete for the tech-savvy working class and youth. Are physical cash machines finally becoming obsolete museum relics while our digital wallets do all the heavy lifting?