Bangalore: The police may have shut down 1,027 unguarded ATMs in the city in the aftermath of the robbery in a kiosk that left a woman bank manager badly injured last week.
But banks are dragging their feet on posting guards, and have reportedly turned to the Union finance ministry for help in stopping the police from enforcing their notification, insisting that providing round-the-clock security for all ATMs in the city should be the responsibility of the police force.
“It’s a law and order issue. Why should we hire private security? How will it help when the guards are unarmed, don't even carry lathis or guns,” a senior banking executive told Deccan Chronicle.
“There are lakhs of ATMs across the country. Once we begin to provide security here, other states will demand it too. The cost will run into hundreds of crores," he added.
"Round-the-clock security guards will cost Rs 25,0000 per ATM. While we have them at some ATMs, it will cost too much to extend it to all,'' protested another top bank executive.
He maintained security could be upgraded by installing alarms and CCTV cameras outside the ATMs, with an alarm buzzer connected to police stations. Except it may be the last thing, our police, overstretched and underpaid, want.
Next - Special: A secure ATM? Don’t bank on it...
Special: A secure ATM? Don’t bank on it...
It may have inconvenienced many, but the closure of scores of ATM kiosks in the city on Sunday for want of security has few complaining as it is clearly the bitter pill everyone is prepared to swallow in their own interests, shocked by the robbery at a JC Road ATM that left a woman bank manager badly injured last week.
It was not just private banks that had their ATMs shut down but also public sector banks as the police swung into action post 4 pm Sunday, and came down heavily on unguarded kiosks, closing as many as 1,027 of them across the city.
Monday morning saw the glass doors of a Canara Bank ATM at the Shantinagar bus terminus closed and padlocked with a notice in bold Kannada letters plastered outside it saying it had been shut due to the absence of a security guard.
But a 23-year-old guard, B. Charan of Orissa, seated outside claimed to have been on duty at the ATM for the past three months. “I was called on Monday morning and informed that the ATM had been closed by the police on Sunday evening after it was found unguarded. Our field officer and manager have complained to the station questioning its closure,” he said, but did not have an answer when asked why the kiosk was unmanned on Sunday.
A Corporation Bank ATM on 12th cross, Wilson Garden, had its shutters rolled down as well. A police point-book dangling from a hook on it gave the date and time of the various visits by the jurisdictional police to check the status of its security over the past few days.
The owner of the building, T. Nagaraj, said when the ATM was first set up 10 years ago, it had round-the-clock security, and later a night guard was posted outside it.
“But for the last three years, there has been no security here at all and the lights of the kiosk too are broken. When the Corporation Bank renewed its agreement with me last year, I requested it repeatedly to fix the lights and post a guard outside, but it took no notice,” he regretted.
Although the police shut down this ATM Tuesday night after the latest robbery, the bank has still not bothered to take action to make it more secure, according to him.
The police crackdown, however, does seem to have worked with some banks. Security guard Abdul Wahid, 19, of Assam, said he was deputed outside an ICICI Bank ATM kiosk on 9th main road, 5th block Jayanagar Sunday afternoon.
“I was given the job and uniform on Sunday and told to start work here. Two other guards have been appointed as well and we are supposed to provide 24-hour security in turns at the kiosk,” he revealed.
Will cops come to the rescue if alarm goes off?
While city police commissioner Raghavendra H. Auradkar has instructed banks to provide round-the-clock security at ATMs using CCTV cameras both inside and outside the kiosks in addition to panic buttons and alarm systems, he has not specified how the system is supposed to operate, points out cyber security and forensics expert, Shubamangala Sunil.
“The police has not specified what type of alarms should be used by the banks, and whether there will be a control room that can be alerted in emergencies. There are no details about how the system will operate, leaving banks clueless,” she notes.
While she believes the idea put forward by the police is a sound one and has a 50 per cent chance of working, she wants more clarity on it.
“When triggered, the panic button or alarm should relay a message to a centralised control room, which can then alert the local police station and despatch help accordingly. But what type of alarm should be installed? What is expected to happen after it is triggered? There is no end-to-end relation regarding these orders. The cost of the alarm depends on the type and can range from a few thousands to almost a lakh!” she says.
The cyber security expert is not surprised at the growing crime at ATMs as she had expected it. “We had warned the heads of local and nationalised banks nearly two years ago about the possibility of such crimes, but they did not pay heed. When we asked them why they were reluctant to post round-the-clock security outside ATM kiosks, we were shocked to be told that it would cost them more to station guards outside them than the money they would lose in the event of a theft. According to their calculations, one security guard has to be paid at least Rs 8,000 a month and as each ATM requires three guards for 24-hour security, it is just not financially viable,” she adds.
Shubamangala and her team have also found in a survey that less than two per cent of all bank employees are aware of cyber crimes and how they are supposed to deal with them when they happen online or at ATMs.
