Bangalore cops shut 1000 ATMs over lax security

BANGALORE: In what appears to be a confrontation between law-enforcing and banking authorities, the Bangalore City police on Sunday night shut down over 1,000 ATMs. Police sources said the move followed banks' failure to abide by the 4pm Sunday deadline set by Bangalore police for banks to ensure effective security at their ATMs in the city.
The ultimatum was issued in the wake of a brutal attack on Jyothi Udaya, 44, in a Corporation Bank ATM on J C Road on November 19 morning.The government had ordered all banks to install CCTV cameras that could capture interior and exterior views in all ATM kiosks, fix alarm systems and post security guards round the clock.
The deadline, though, passed with nothing on the ground, suggesting that the financial institutions had not taken the ultimatum seriously, a random survey by TOI of the cash-vending kiosks revealed.
Within minutes of the deadline ending, Bangalore City police commissioner Raghavendra H Auradkar ordered his personnel to prohibit ATMs that have failed to comply with the security measures from conducting any kind of transactions. Some four hours later, reports started trickling in from various police divisions about ATMs being shut down.
Auradkar told TOI: "If they have complied with the government order even after 4pm Sunday, my orders are clear. We will prohibit transactions from happening there with immediate effect."
Auradkar, entrusted with the responsibility of implementing the order by the home department, said he has issued orders to all the deputy commissioners of police to conduct physical verification of the ATMs and take action immediately.
A Karur Vysya Bank ATM and another HDFC ATM in Lakshmipuram, Ulsoor, had their shutters pulled down and locked. A copy of the November 21, 2013 notice issued by Auradkar setting the 4 pm, November 24, to banks on providing security at ATMs was pasted on the shutters of both ATMs.
Earlier in the evening, TOI followed a team of policemen attached with the Cubbon Park police station, only to find the measures are not implemented at many of the kiosks. Led by an assistant sub-inspector-rank officer, a team of three personnel verified 15 ATMs on Sunday, on and around MG Road.
Almost all the kiosks did not have alarms and magnetic strips. Only CCTV cameras were installed in all ATMs. When it came to employment of security guards, some banks like Canara Bank and State Bank of India, which did not have a security guard earlier, had employed one at their kiosks, while most other banks continued to operate the kiosks without one.
Following a reality check done the day after the brutal attack on Jyothi, TOI did another check on Sunday, again to find many ATMs not complying with the security measures mandated by the government and RBI. Most ATMs in different parts of the city - Koramangala, Old Airport Road, Indiranagar, Seshadripuram, Cooke Town and Frazer Town - were seen functioning without security guards.
A recently set-up Axis Bank ATM at Ejipura Junction, for instance, had no guard around. Locals expressed concern over the laxity citing the sensitivity of the area. Guruprasad, who operates a pushcart next to the ATM, said brawls are common in the vicinity given its proximity to a bar, and with irregular functioning of the streetlights, the ATM is not secure.
A senior citizen, Mahesh H, spoke about his concerns about an ICICI bank ATM on Indiranagar 80-ft road, which has been functioning without a guard for many months. "The road is calm during night and the ATM does not have a magnetic strip reader also, so it is not safe to draw the money from here," he said.
The situation was similar in many places across the city, notwithstanding the stance of the government.