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Police in India say ATM security is still lacking

Ten months after a woman was nearly killed by a machete-wielding assailant in Bangalore, many ATMs still lack CCTV cameras and able-bodied watchmen.

September 15, 2014

India continues to struggle to find an ATM security solution that satisfies not only the letter of the law, but also its intent.

Following the vicious machete attack on a woman using a bank ATM in Bangalore last November, police advised bank officials to maintain CCTV coverage and provide a security guard at all ATMs.

To date, however, neither requirement has been met fully, and even in cases where both cameras and guards are in place, the watchman is little more than a warm body, according to a report by New India Express:

... in reality a number of ATM kiosks do not house security cameras and some of them are still unmanned. The guards are old, weak and vulnerable. They are untrained and are not capable of defending themselves, let alone protecting others.

"In Bangalore, the police have shut down ATMs of banks which have not followed the necessary security guidelines," DCP  G. Pala Raju, deputy commissioner of police, told the Express.