I am of the view that all banks should learn lesson from the incidnet and from directive issued by Government of Karnataka and stop reckless expansion of ATM in the country.
Not only this even the branch expansion programme undertaken by all banks just to obey the dictates of Finance Minister or to please their mentor minister may prove the most risky venture because public sector banks in general are opening new branches without take care of security and without providing enough manpower at the branches.
NOt only manpower posted AT THESE BRANCHES are unsafe, even loans sanctioned by inexperienced officers may prove more dangerous in near future.
Government of India must think on this vital issue and make a long term security plan to cope with the security challenges posed by reckless and careless expansion of branches and that of ATMs in the country.
I think Congress Party led UPA government is committing blunder by advising banks for rapid expansion and leaving the threat arising out of it for next government.
Banks set to beef up security at ATMs after Bangalore incident-FE
Alarmed by the recent Bangalore incident, banks are gearing up to enhance security at ATMs after a review of threat perception at various locations.
"Though our ATMs have adequate security, the bank will review it and beef up where required," a senior official of Canara Bank told PTI.
As per the usual practice, banks deploy full-time security guards at the off-site ATMs (Automated Teller Machines), while at the on-site ATM i.e. at the bank branch, guards are placed only at night.
According to a Corporation Bank official, in the light of the incident in Bangalore, the bank will further strengthen the security and take appropriate steps.
In a shocking incident on Tuesday, a women employee of Corporation Bank was attacked brutally at the on-site ATM of the bank.
The assailant had attacked her after entering the ATM booth closely following her and downing the rolling shutter when she refused to draw money and hand it over to him.
The private security industry, which manages the cash logistics and security of bank ATMs, has been raising the security issue of ATM operations time and again with the government and banks.
"Its the long wait for the gun licences that will cost the ATM security. The situation could worsen further as the government has announced one lakh more ATMs in next 2 years.
"Imagine what could be state then considering the slow progress on the armed security front," said Rituraj Sinha managing director of cash management company SIS Prosegur.
As of August, there were 1,26,950 ATMs of banks across the country. Of this, the number of onsite ATMs are 63,380 while there 63,570 cash dispensing machines off-site.
Public sector banks had a combined 72,340 branches, of which 37,672 had onsite ATMs at the end of March 2013.
State issues ultimatum to banks on ATM security-The Hindu 21.11.2013
Three-day deadline to deploy security at all ATMs
The State government has given gave a three-day deadline to all banks to provide security at all ATMs. This is following the attack on a woman in an ATM kiosk in Bangalore city on Tuesday.
Home Minister K.J. George on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting with senior police officers here and instructed all bank managements, both private and nationalised, to provide security at all ATMs located in the city in the next three days.
The Minister obtained information from the officials about location of ATMs of various banks in the city and the number of security personnel deployed.
Addressing presspersons after the meeting, the Minister said there are 2,500 ATMs in the city and 600 of them are unmanned.
It was the responsibility of banks to provide security at their ATMs. The banks should close down all ATMs if they are unable to deploy security personnel, Mr. George warned. He said a committee, headed by Additional Chief Secretary S.K. Pattanaik, has been constituted to formulate guidelines on providing security at ATMs. The committee comprises officials of the Law Department, banks and the Home Department, Mr. George said.
He added that in future, banks have to obtain permission from the Home Department for setting up ATMs. He advised banks not to set up ATMs in remote areas and bank managements to monitor functioning of CCTVs through control rooms.
He said a special squad would be formed to assess the locations of unmanned ATMs in the city.
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