Govt tells banks to beef up ATM security

The  Finance Ministry had sent a missive to banks to enhance security at ATMs. Even some state governments are asking the banks to have round-the-clock security at the ATMs.

But, this may be bad economics as increasing manpower could end up costing the banks and customers more, fear bankers. Besides, increasing staff, better technology and getting armed security guards for all ATMs in the country may prove difficult.

This has another implication, as more people may flock the bank counters, thereby defeating the whole idea of having ATMs. The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) last month calculated that this would incur an additional monthly cost of Rs 40,000 per ATM. The IBA has asked the RBI to cap the number of free transactions to five per month across any ATM network.