BANKS ASKED TO KEEP STRICT VIGIT AT ATM's

Banks will be asked to compulsorily install CCTV cameras inside and outside their ATM kiosks by January-end and provide round-the-clock guards, a move that comes in the wake of the attack on a Bangalore woman last month inside a cash dispensing centre which had no security. This was decided at a high-level meeting attended by top officials from RBI, apex banking body, Maharashtra Police and State Government here today. The meeting was chaired by Maharashtra Minister of State Home Satej Patil at his office. It was decided that the RBI would prepare a circular and come out with a schedule wherein all banks would be asked to compulsorily install CCTV cameras or intelligent cameras inside and outside their ATM kiosks with 90-day storage facility, a senior police official told PTI. These measures were necessary to avoid closure of ATMs by police for security reasons (as has been done in Bangalore), he said. The meeting was attended by RBI Chief General Manager R Keshavan, Maharashtra DGP Sanjeev Dayal, Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh, Joint Secretary (Home) P Gaud, Indian Bank Association Deputy Chief Executive K Unnikrishnan and IBA's Chief Technology Advisor A M Pedgaonkar. Banks would be asked to provide guards round-the-clock at the ATMs, the officer said. "Banks would be ordered to repair non-functional cameras inside/outside the ATMs by December-end, fit working cameras at all ATMs by January-end and remove posters etc from glasses on the kiosks in order to ensure clear visibility." Last month, a woman bank official was brutally attacked inside an unguarded ATM centre in Bangalore by an unidentified man wielding a machete. Though the bone-chilling incident was captured on CCTV, the attacker still remains at large. The banks would also be asked to avoid secluded places for putting up ATM centres, he said, adding "softwares for triggering alarm during an emergency could be fitted at ATMs." "It was brought to notice in the meeting that banks are generally reluctant to report any offence that occurs at the ATMs as it affects their business. Banks were asked to report such incidents to police," the officer said.