Security OF ATM And Branches Of Banks

After the incident of a lady drawing cash from ATM attacked by miscreant in Bangalore, police has given instruction to bankers either to provide security guard, alarm bell and CCTV at each ATM or they will close the ATM shutters. It is true that providing Armed Guard at ATM or keeping CCTV facility or alarm bell in ATM may provide safety to some extent.

But the root causes of such type of incidents lie in not only absence of security guard at ATM but also in several other factors.

One of the key factors is total lawlessness in the country. People do not want to lodge even FIR at police station on any criminal act committed by criminals. Rather people of India hate police and abuse police for providing protections to criminals and torturing innocent.  On the contrary criminals do not fear police and do not fear judiciary because they know the art of managing the police or court cases in their favour. They know how to motivate police force and how to motivate judges through their advocates or any other middleman in courts. 

This is why Criminals can attack not only in ATM, they can loot any branch anywhere in India irrespective of the fact it is manned or unmanned by security guard. There are hundreds of instances where branches or cash van secured by number of security guards have been looted in broad daylight and police fails to even catch them in many cases of dacoity and loot.  Not only banks or ATM, even any house situated in any corner of the country are subject to risk of attack from criminals and terrorist and naxals. In such position, it will be better on the part of Bangalore police to demand provision of security guard, CCTV and alarm bell in every home, every office and every nook and corner of the country.

In our country, quality of majority of security guards provided at bank’s branches or in ATM is also questionable. Such guards are neither physically fit, nor adequately trained and nor bold and competent enough to cope with criminal attacks. They simply sit idly outside ATM and any street boy can push him away to do what he or she likes to do.

Thirdly it is pity that  bank management do not think it necessary to provide security guards even in all Branches dealing in cash , not to speak of ATM where cash is secured to a great extent in comparison to open cash at branches. It is primarily due to the fact that  bank management do not have enough capacity to spend on security. They do not have enough manpower to provide for operation in branches. They open the branches without adequate manpower and adequate infrastructure. This is because they do not have any vision how to secure their bank and their workforce who are prone to risk of criminal attacks at many branches. They do not bother even if such bank officials indulge in bad lending to get rid of local musclemen or powerful politicians. 

Banks which cannot afford for respectable wage hike to own staff cannot dream of providing security at ATM or at branches or to its customers.Profit making motto has become dominant over social security and social welfare in the era of liberalization , globalisation and privatization.

Bank managements  are simply opening branches after branches and ATM after ATM  and such mad rush for opening of new  branches and new ATM is simply to please ministers .They never think it wise to recruit enough strong guards and enough manpower to man the branches they open. Further even if they decide to recruit manpower for any post, they have to oblige various Netas, castes, communities, government officials and other VIPs in the matter of all types of recruitment sacrificing the quality.

Lastly even rulers of this country do not want to build pressure on bank management to properly plan their manpower and other related infrastructure before branch expansion and enlargement of ATM network in the country.

Government of India should formulate branch and ATM expansion plan to stop mad rush and reckless expansion undertaken by different banks to compete with each other but at the cost of public money and jeopardizing the interest of customers and investors.

Finance Minister has to stop advising banks to open thousands of branches and ATM in short span of time without giving them enough time to manage the affairs in right and effective way. They have to stop allotting unachievable and sky touching targets to bankers and they have to stop corruption in all recruitment, promotions and transfers and so on.

Security at ATM cannot and should not be considered in isolation. Broad outlook with long term vision has to be in place to secure all persons and all banks and all ATMs and all houses. Otherwise I have no doubt that these politicians who are making only voted bank oriented plans for banks will force bank’s complete failure and collapse sooner than later

As a matter of fact if police forces are active all the 24 hours in a day there is no possibility or rare possibility of criminals attacking innocent people in ATM or elsewhere.Even now instances of criminal attacking common men at common places , shops, residences and offices are more than that at ATM

Netas have to stop their habit of interfering in police matters and stop using all incidents for vote bank. Politicians have to stop putting wrong and baseless allegations against police. Politicians have to stop accusing police of false encounters for political gain. Politicians have to stop speak openly against police force to stop demoralization of police forces. If there is any case of real injustice by police with any person, they should learn the habit of lodging their grievance in writing with some other forum or grievance redressal organization. This culture has to be inculcated in all offices and in all departments.

If security is made available for all citizens at all places , I think banks will not need providing security guards or will not demand charges for withdrawal of money from own ATM or other bank’s ATM from own customers or other bank’s customers.

The style of functioning of Aam Admi Party in Delhi will very soon open the eyes of traditional politicians and create an atmosphere where corrupt officials , corrupt police personnel and corrupt politicians will be forced to stop their corrupt practice and start thinking in the interest of common men willingly or unwillingly. If police become vigilant 24 hours and do their duty sincerely , no security guard will  be needed either in banks or in ATMs.

Ridiculous for banks to charge for withdrawals at own 

ATMs: KC Chakrabarty, RBI DG-

Times of India -ET10.01.2013 ( My views given below)

Lashing out at the proposal from the Indian Banks' Association to start charging customers for ATM withdrawals, Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor KC Chakrabarty has said that such a move on the part of banks would be 'ridiculous' and 'illogical'.

Speaking exclusively to ET NOW, Mr Chakrabarty says "it is very, very ridiculous that banks are charging the customers for withdrawing money, and that too from their own ATMs -- it never happens anywhere." He goes on to add that this is something that only further competition in the industry can rectify. "If the cost of withdrawing money is so high so that they charging you, then they may just start charging you even if you go to a bank branch. That is why I feel we require more banks, there is not enough competition and banks are becoming illogical," quips Mr Chakrabarty.

Of late banks have started complaining of rising costs, after several state governments have made it compulsory for banks to install round-the-clock security guards at their ATMs. According to the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), the cost of providing physical security to these ATMs is upwards of Rs 4,000 crore for the system. "We have no choice but to raise the charges, we have proposed that free transactions at ATMs be capped at five per month," said MV Tanksale, CEO, IBA in an interaction with journalists earlier this week. Interestingly, the move comes at a time when the RBI and banks are trying to push customers to use ATMs more, in an attempt to bring down transaction costs at branches.

But Mr Chakrabarty concedes that banks may end up with no choice but to raise charges if the costs are unviable. "If the banks are not able to do a particular business because the pricing is adverse I don't think there is any other way but to rectify the pricing," he says.

However, the RBI is yet to receive any formal intimation from banks on the subject. If and when the banks raise the issue with the regulator, the RBI is expected to set up a committee that will look into all the costs and arrive at a fair amount for the charges. At present, the RBI has not prescribed any charges for cash withdrawals at ATMs if the customer is using a card of the same bank, though the fee for withdrawals at other ATMs has been capped at Rs 20, after five free cash transactions.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-01-08/news/45991494_1_indian-banks-own-atms-more-banks

Banking sector needs 1.5L more guards for ATMs-

Times of India---(Read my views below)

BANGALORE: The countdown has begun, and banks operating ATM kiosks in Bangalore have just two days to appoint security guards or shut shop, as directed by the government. But industry body Assocham claims there's a shortfall of 1.5 lakh security guards for ATM operations across the country.

Of about 1.25 lakh ATMs in India, Assocham said only 50,000 have security guards, leaving 75,000 kiosks unguarded, which means a demand for 1.5 lakh guards, one on day and a second on night shift. With only 1.15 lakh of the 1.25 lakh ATMs equipped with CCTVs, the industry body said the security scenario needs to be addressed seriously.  

India's largest security group, Topsgrup, agreed with Assocham: "The (Bangalore) incident is not the first such attack due to the lack of security personnel. Physical attacks at ATMs are not confined to particular regions in the country. ATM manufacturers, banks and financial institutions, and the security industry need to look at a comprehensive approach and multi-layered security programme to prevent such breaches and attacks."

Ramesh Iyer, vice-president and CEO, Topsgrup India, said the company is looking at alternative emergency systems for clients in India.

"The attack underscores the need for guards to ensure all ATMs are properly guarded and equipped with security gadgets, other than CCTVs," DS Rawat, secretary general, Assocham said.

Internationally too, guidelines on ATM security do not prescribe a guard. The New York state banking department's ATM Safety Act, for example, has a series of guidelines for customer safety but there's no mention of a security guard for every kiosk. But the reaction time of police in New York, and their monitoring systems are way more efficient than in India, which probably makes up for the lack of guards at every ATM.

Argues Assocham: "While recruitment of guards to man all ATMs 24X7 may be time-consuming and a costly affair, the answers lie in using hi-tech gadgets like automatic alarms, improving camera footage and setting up monitoring rooms which require coordination between banks and police authorities."