NO ATM in Urban Areas Will Be Replenished After 9 PM IST & 6 PM IST in Rural India From Next Year

THE  Union  Home  Ministry has  decided  that no ATM will be allowed to be replenished with cash after 2100  HRS  IST in cities and 1800 hours  IST in rural areas from February  8 , 2019  as part  of  security measures. The Deccan Chronicle reports that two armed guards will accompany crisp notes in transit as per a new directive issued by the MHA .The deadline for putting money in the ATMs located in Naxal-hit areas is 1600 hrs while private cash handling agencies must collect money from the banks in the first half of the day and transport notes only in armoured vehicles. In a notification, the Home Ministry said the new Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) would come into effect in view of the spurt in incidents of attacks on cash vans, cash vaults, ATM frauds and other internal frauds leading to an increased sense of insecurity. There are over 8,000 privately owned cash vans plying across the country, operated by non-bank private agencies, and they handle over Rs 15,000 crore daily on behalf of banks. Sometimes, the private agencies keep currency overnight at their cash vaults.”No cash loading of the ATMs or cash transportation activities shall be done after 9 pm in urban areas, after 6 pm in rural areas and before 9 am or after 4 pm in the districts notified by the central government as Left Wing Extremism affected areas,” the notification said.The agencies shall provide private security for the cash transportation with the requisite number of trained staff, every cash van shall have one driver, two armed security guards, two ATM officers or custodians. One armed guard must sit in the front along with the driver and another in the rear portion of the van while in transit. During loading or unloading, nature’s call, tea or lunch break, at least one armed security guard shall remain present with the cash van all the time. The ex-serviceman, otherwise eligible, may preferably be appointed for providing security for cash transportation. Every cash transportation shall be carried out only in secured cash vans fitted with GPS tracking device and it must be ensured that no cash van carries cash of more than Rs 5 crore per trip as per the notification. No private security agency shall appoint anyone for the cash transportation unless the person has undergone thorough antecedent check like police, Aadhaar and residence verifications, previous employer check, credit history check and fidelity insurance. Each of the cash boxes shall be secured to the floor with separate chains and locks that can be opened only by using separate keys kept with different custodians. Asked to comment on the notification Nitin Tandon (name changed), a working lady in Gurugram, says  the order is in the interest of both public and banks (image courtesy: India TV).