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Bhubaneswar, July 7: The growing number of cases of swindling and theft at the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) across the state proves that the machines are far from providing hassle-free banking.
Recent cases from Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Berhampur and other cities of the state have brought a sense of suspicion among the ATM users about the safety of their money and savings. On June 23, a youth was nabbed by the Cuttack police. He used to withdraw money from others’ accounts by being present at the ATMs during the transaction of another person. He used to insert a PIN under the cancel button of the keypad and later withdraw more cash.
Similar cases of swindling inside the M.K.C.G. Medical College in Berhampur had been reported in May after which the students demonstrated in front of the ATM insisting for adequate security. Apart from the unauthorised transactions, they also complained about no partition in between the two machines present at the college ATM counter that was a threat to the privacy of the customers. In another incident in the city in February, a 20-year-old was held for illegally withdrawing money from others’ accounts from the ATMs where no guards were present.
Many ATMs in Bhubaneswar can be found lacking adequate security measures in and around them. According to the rules, only one person is allowed at an ATM during a transaction.
But, most banks break their own privacy rules having installed two ATMs at one centre, which, in a way, hampers privacy and let the customers’ PIN noticed by others. Though the closed circuit cameras are installed at most counters, these can easily be covered or disabled. But, the SBI officers seem to rely on them as enough security since almost none of the SBI ATMs in the city has security guards posted outside the counter.
At these unguarded SBI ATMs, the doors are usually provided with card punching machines only after swiping through which, the door opens. But these can be found broken in most of their ATMs. Customers also complaint about faulty ATMs at SBI counters that are out of order most of the time.
“SBI ATMs are badly maintained. Since there are no guards, people keep it untidy and there is no control on breaching the rule of “one person at a time”. Moreover, though most counters have two machines, one can be sure that one of them must not be working,” said Pradyumna Nayak, a customer. Another customer said money above Rs 10,000 were recently withdrawn from his account at an SBI ATM near Ekamra Haat.
The officers believe that losing money from the ATMs depends entirely on the customers.
“If one has his card and PIN safe and intact, unauthorised transactions become completely impossible. Just like a signature can be forged on a cheque, the PIN and the card are the major parameters for safe ATM transactions. It should always be kept a secret,” said an SBI officer. “Neither a guard nor a closed circuit camera is helpful in that regard,” he said.
The police said until May this year, 63 cases in Bhubaneswar and 25 in Cuttack were recorded under swindling, 50 per cent of which had been related to unauthorised ATM transactions.
“The customers using ATMs should be extremely careful about the transactions. If they do not have much idea about using the machine, they should not take a risk and must not ask for help from others. On finding more than one person in the ATM room, they should immediately inform the bank authorities or the police,” said Bhubaneswar deputy commissioner of police Nitinjit Singh. “Most cases arise due to lack of awareness,” he said.
