A few days back, while going back home from my evening stroll, I happened to see a differently-abled person strapped to his electric Tricycle in front of an ATM, just off the main road. There is a big step from the footpath to the ATM, and there is no Wheelchair accessto ATM machine. It was a Sunday, and around 6:30 pm, a busy road and footpath on weekdays, the footpath was almost empty, so I could see the person from a distance. When I reached near him, he called me and, without wasting a word, asked me, waving his ATM card, if I could help him get money from the ATM and shared his PIN.
I was taken by surprise, and I asked him, "You trust a stranger with your ATM card and password ?" And without taking a second, came his answer, "We are human being afterall" Then, the question "Can he be trusted?" had not come into my mind, but when I agreed to help him, suddenly I realised that I am the one who is in the risky situation. So I asked his name, checked the card, and confirmed the PIN again.
Since I have never used that specific ATM, I told him it might take me some time. As I entered the enclosure, the first thing I tried was to keep the door open, so that he could see me, but I realised that, wearing a saree, it was not easy to keep a door open with my feet. Then it took me some time to figure out that it was a Swipe in and take out card, since I had left the card in the slot (thinking the card needs to be in the slot till completion of the transaction ) the system gave an error message, and it took some time for it reset again.
The next time I did it correctly, entered the amount and his PIN, got the message saying the transaction is happening, but then at the end of the transaction, I didnt get money, but a slip saying that the transaction could not happen. I opened the door, and he was all smiles, giving me a thumbs up. And I told him that the transaction was a failure! "But I got a message saying the amount has been withdrawn !" I have had similar situations many times and have gone bonkers myself in such situations. But that day, I kept calm and told him the same, "Keep calm, and check your bank statement, there will be an entry for the credit also"
He checked and confirmed that there were 2 entries, one for debit and another for credit. Then he said that he was not able to make a UPI payment and so had to have some cash on him.I asked him if he was aware of the area, he said he had some idea and he did some training from an institution close by and got a job with an MNC. Then I asked him if he knew any other ATM close by, he said he did not have much idea. So i told him there are 3, one is across the road, and 2 same side of the road, some 100 meters ahead, but everywhere he will have an access problem. No building has wheelchair access, and especialy ATM.
And then the fool I am asked him if he needs help ? He said , it will be a problem for me , but at the same time he doesn't know how to get some cash. I asked him where he lives. Turns out his place is around 5-6 kms from where we stood. Anyway i decided I will try one more ATM , the one which i have used a couple of times. On his Tricycle he reached there before I could, checked and realised I was right about the wheelchair access. But i was surprised that there were no lights, it was almost 6:45 pm by then.
He again gave me his ATM card. I got the money, came out, asked him to count the cash, once all cross-checked, told him to send emails to all the 3 banks raising issues about wheelchair inaccessibility to the ATM, and walked my way back home. And I started analysing the situation, and realised that the whole situation could have been a very risky affair for me. I had the confidence that there is a camera above ATM machines, and all transactions can be verified through the statement and timestamp. However, what happens outside the ATM does not have a third-party witness. And that crucial point never occurred to me till I started thinking about the whole scenario while walking back home.
So after reaching home I narrated the whole event and asked my Husband for his opinion . Following were his advice
1. Ignore the person and leave; that's the safest thing to do. You cannot trust anyone.
Knowing the kind of "romantic fool " I am, he then said
2. If you must help, record the whole event, starting from withdrawing money and handing it over to the person as proof. The scenarios he gave
a) What if the person said that you withdrew more than he asked you to?
>> I said, there are always transaction statements to confirm the amount withdrawn.
b) What if a person said that you handed him only a partial amount?
>> Now, that is a possible scenario, so I should have confirmed whether I am in CCTV surveillance area, if not, I should have recorded at least the handing over and confirmation of the amount from him.
Lesson Learnt!
But there are other things which bothered me.
1. It's so difficult to trust people these days. We have to think of the worst scenario before even thinking of helping someone in need.
2. We can never become a "Developed" country. We don't have decent basic infrastructure, let it be roads, bridges, housing, or safe drinking water; we cannot trust the system or technology all the time.
So what option do we have -- for me, the only option is to help each other, as they say ,"Take that leap of faith - faith in Humanity" Like Hashir said (the guy I helped) " We are all Humans afterall!"
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