Neglect towards security guards can have implications: APSA
Hyderabad: The Association of Private Security Agencies (APSA), a 44-year-old industry body representing private security firms across the Telugu states, on Friday said that the failure to revise minimum wages for security guards for over a decade has resulted in an acute manpower shortage.
Addressing the media, APSA chief adviser and former Director General of AP Police Swaranjit Sen, along with association office-bearers, said statutory wage revisions have not been carried out since June 2010.
APSA chairman C. Bhaskar Reddy noted that guards in Telangana earn up to 40 per cent less than their counterparts in neighbouring states. “A guard in Telangana loses nearly ₹7,000 to ₹8,000 a month compared to neighbouring states. While the Central Wage Commission recommends a minimum of ₹15,000 for 26 working days, many guards are paid only ₹10,000 to ₹12,000,” Bhaskar Reddy said.
According to APSA, nearly 95 per cent of security guards in Telangana are guest workers from other states, with local participation remaining limited.
On regulatory oversight, Sen said that while Telangana has one of the most transparent licensing systems under the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act (PSARA), nearly half of the sector continues to operate through unlicensed agencies. “The presence of unlicensed players leads to exploitation of guards and undermines security standards,” Sen said, adding that private security guards often act as the first point of alert at private premises and cooperate with the police in matters related to national security when required.
APSA president Capt. Buddha A.R. (Retd.) flagged irregularities in government tenders, alleging that some agencies quoted zero-profit bids and compensated by deploying fewer guards than contracted, creating what he described as “ghost workers” on payrolls. Similar practices were observed in sectors such as films and events, where intermediaries charged clients heavily while paying guards only a fraction of the amount, APSA representatives said.
The association demanded immediate wage revision to bring Telangana on par with neighbouring states, strict enforcement of PSARA provisions, and compliance with statutory social security payments. It also urged the Labour Department to reclassify private security guards from “unskilled” to “skilled” workers, noting that guards are trained in fire safety, surveillance, and identifying suspicious activity at residential complexes, hospitals, commercial establishments, and public spaces.
APSA also questioned the per-head licensing fee of ₹500 in Telangana compared to ₹50 in several other states pointing out that welfare benefits such as accident compensation have remained unchanged at ₹2 lakh for nearly two decades.
The association announced that a private security guard welfare summit will be held on December 22 at the Marri Channa Reddy Human Resource Development Centre to further discuss the issue.
