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Secure ATMs or shut them down, Indian state tells banks

November 21, 2013

Following a horrifying machete attack on a woman at an ATM in the Indian city of Bangalore in Karnataka state, the government has issued a warning to banks that they must provide a security officer at every ATM or risk having their unattended units shut down.

A report by DNA India said that following in a high-level meeting between police and government officials on Wednesday, Home Minister K.J. George announced that banks would have three days to man all of their ATM kiosks.

Of 2,500 ATMs in the city of Bangalore, more than one-quarter (600) are unguarded.

"If providing security guards is not viable, the banks should design ATMs in such away that one can see from outside what is happening inside the ATM kiosk,'' George said.

The Tuesday attack took place in an ATM kiosk with a roll-down security shutter. After following his victim into the ATM vestibule, the robber rolled down the shutter to hide from view. The incident was captured on CCTV, however; police used footage of the attack and GPS from the woman's stolen mobile phone to identify and locate a suspect who is now in custody.

The woman remains in the hospital with serious injuries; publications in India have run a steady stream of headlines decrying the lack of a guard at the ATM.

The issue of ATM security is a vexing one for Indian FIs and law enforcement, with ATM users frequently targeted by robbers.

Banks generally post low-paid guards at ATM sites, but the unarmed watchmen are, themselves, at risk. Just a week before the Bangalore attack, a security guard in the state of Punjab was murdered in an attempted ATM robbery.

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