New Delhi: No ATM will be replenished with cash after 9pm in the cities, 6pm in the rural areas and 4pm in Maoist zones from next year, a Union home ministry notification has said.

Private cash-handling agencies must collect the money from the banks in the first half of the day and transport notes only in armoured vehicles, accompanied by two armed guards and two ATM officers or custodians, it added.

These rules will come into effect from February 8 next year and have been devised following a spurt in attacks on cash vans and cash vaults and in ATM fraud, the ministry said.

More than 8,000 private cash vans now ply across the country, ferrying more than Rs 15,000 crore daily on behalf of the banks.

Sometimes, the private non-banking agencies operating the vans keep the currency overnight in their cash vaults.

"No cash loading of the ATMs or cash transportation activities shall be done after 9pm in urban areas, after 6pm in rural areas and before 9am or after 4pm in districts notified... as Left Wing Extremism-affected areas," the notification said.

During transit, one armed guard must sit beside the cash van's driver and the other at the rear of the vehicle.

At least one armed guard must remain with the cash van throughout - during loading and unloading and when the others take tea, lunch or toilet breaks.

Every cash van must be fitted with a GPS tracking device, a CCTV system with at least five days' recording facility and three cameras installed in the front, rear and inside of the cabin. No cash van must carry more than Rs 5 crore per trip.

A cash van must have a security alarm with a GSM-based auto-dialler and a motorised siren. It must have a hooter, fire extinguishers and emergency lights to ensure quick reaction in case of an attack.

Each cash box must be secured to the van floor with chains and locks that can be opened only by using separate keys, kept with different custodians.

Eligible ex-servicemen should preferably be appointed as armed guards for the cash vans, the notification said.

Every cash guard must have undergone police, Aadhaar and residence verifications and have his credit and employment history checked. The private security agency must take out a fidelity insurance.

The agency must ensure that all handling of the cash - including counting, sorting and bundling - is done on secure premises.