No round-the-clock guards needed at ATMs, rules Supreme Court
The bench accepted the arguments presented by the Union government and banks that deploying security guards at every ATM was impractical
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that it is not mandatory for banks to place security guards round-the-clock at all ATMs to enforce proper queues and that only one customer enters an ATM at a time.
The decision by a bench of justices Bhushan R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran came as it overturned a directive issued by the Gauhati high court in December 2013 that mandated the deployment of security guards at all ATMs round the clock to prevent fraud and maintain order at ATM facilities.
Setting aside the high court’s directive, the bench accepted the arguments presented by the Union government and various banks, which contended that deploying security guards at every ATM was impractical.
The State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, and Bank of India had challenged the high court’s 2013 ruling, arguing that it was unfeasible to station guards at all ATMs round the clock, particularly given the sheer number of machines in operation. The Supreme Court stayed the directive in December 2016, and on Tuesday, the bench made this stay permanent by quashing the impugned order of the high court.
During the proceedings, solicitor general of India Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government and some of the petitioner banks, stressed that it was neither viable nor necessary to have security guards at every ATM. He pointed out that in Assam alone, banks operate around 4,000 ATMs, making the directive logistically impossible. Instead, he emphasised that the globally accepted approach to ATM security relies on CCTV surveillance rather than physical security personnel.
Mehta further argued that even when the Gauhati high court modified its directive to require security guards only during operational hours, this did not resolve the issue because ATMs remain accessible 24x7.
Mehta also informed the court that both the Reserve Bank of India and the Union ministry of finance supported the banks’ position and agreed that round-the-clock security guards were unnecessary. However, he clarified that banks had complied with other security measures ordered by the high court.
Recording the SG’s submissions and acknowledging the operational and financial constraints faced by banks, the bench proceeded to strike down the requirement for round-the-clock security guards, even as it did not interfere with the other security measures recommended by the high court.
The Gauhati high court had issued its directive in response to a suo motu public interest litigation (PIL) sparked by a report in a local newspaper. The report detailed an incident in which a customer lost ₹35,000 from his account minutes after withdrawing ₹5,000 from an ATM. Acting on recommendations from the Assam director general of police, the high court imposed several security measures, including continuous CCTV monitoring, alarm systems for non-functional cameras, and restrictions on customers wearing helmets, mufflers, or caps inside ATM chambers.