NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court docket on Tuesday held that it’s not obligatory for banks to position safety guards round the clock in any respect ATMs to implement correct queues and that just one buyer enters an ATM at a time.
The Supreme Court docket’s ruling overturned a directive issued by the Gauhati excessive courtroom in December 2013 that mandated the deployment of safety guards in any respect ATMs (Mint File Picture/Pradeep Gaur)
The choice by a bench of justices Bhushan R Gavai and Okay Vinod Chandran got here because it overturned a directive issued by the Gauhati excessive courtroom in December 2013 that mandated the deployment of safety guards in any respect ATMs around the clock to forestall fraud and preserve order at ATM amenities.
Setting apart the excessive courtroom’s directive, the bench accepted the arguments introduced by the Union authorities and numerous banks, which contended that deploying safety guards at each ATM was impractical.
The State Financial institution of India, Punjab Nationwide Financial institution, and Financial institution of India had challenged the excessive courtroom’s 2013 ruling, arguing that it was unfeasible to station guards in any respect ATMs around the clock, significantly given the sheer variety of machines in operation. The Supreme Court docket stayed the directive in December 2016, and on Tuesday, the bench made this keep everlasting by quashing the impugned order of the excessive courtroom.
Throughout the proceedings, solicitor basic of India Tushar Mehta, representing the Union authorities and a few of the petitioner banks, harassed that it was neither viable nor essential to have safety guards at each ATM. He identified that in Assam alone, banks function round 4,000 ATMs, making the directive logistically unimaginable. As an alternative, he emphasised that the globally accepted strategy to ATM safety depends on CCTV surveillance somewhat than bodily safety personnel.
Mehta additional argued that even when the Gauhati excessive courtroom modified its directive to require safety guards solely throughout operational hours, this didn’t resolve the problem as a result of ATMs stay accessible 24×7.
Mehta additionally knowledgeable the courtroom that each the Reserve Financial institution of India and the Union ministry of finance supported the banks’ place and agreed that round the clock safety guards had been pointless. Nevertheless, he clarified that banks had complied with different safety measures ordered by the excessive courtroom.
Recording the SG’s submissions and acknowledging the operational and monetary constraints confronted by banks, the bench proceeded to strike down the requirement for round the clock safety guards, even because it didn’t intervene with the opposite safety measures beneficial by the excessive courtroom.