No RBI Guidelines for ATM CCTV Recording in India

There are no Reserve Bank of India guidelines for video recording of ATM transactions in India. That means, CCTV recording or even ATM pin hole camera recording of ATM transactions is not compulsory. Whatever little recording takes place at present is purely a voluntary effort on the part of banks or their ATM vendors. I got this information in a reply to my RTI application filed with Reserve Bank of India. The RTI application was made to know the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines for security of on-site and off-site bank ATMs in India. RBI's reply is kind of shocking. Practically, there are no guidelines and the security of ATMs has been left to the discretion of banks. Let me give the details: There are no RBI guidelines for recording of ATM transactions via a pin hole ATM camera or a CCTV camera monted on a wall around the ATM machine. Resultantly, only God knows how many bank ATMs in India are functioning without a built-in camera and / or a CCTV camera fitted around. There are no RBI guidelines for preserving the ATM camera / CCTV recording for a minimum period of time. Some banks (vendors) "preserve" recordings for 1 month or 3 months as per their own sweet will, while others don't. Instances of recording equipment like hard disk being "full" or faulty are rampant. Since there are no RBI guidelines, in case of failed ATM transactions, banks do not provide video recording to the Banking Ombudsman and easily get away by saying something like "ATM camera / CCTV was not working on that day". Read more below...

Banks Cannot Change Minimum Balance Requirement Without Advance Notice to Customers

It is often observed that banks open new deposit (savings / current) accounts by promising very low minimum balance requirements. Then, after sometime, the minimum balance requirement is changed without informing the customers. Only when the bank starts charging a penalty for non-maintenance of the increased minimum balance requirement, the customer comes to know that he or she is now required to maintain a higher minimum balance in the account. Banks often take the plea that the change in the minimum balance requirement was either notified in their policy through their website or the circular regarding new minimum balance was pasted on some board in the branch. Such conduct of banks leads to customer dissatisfaction and complaints. Some banks change the minimum balance requirement from quarterly basis (QAB) to monthly basis (MAB) without informing their customers. Reserve Bank of India, in its Master Circular on Customer Service in Banks Ref. No.: RBI/2012-13/50 dated July 2, 2012 has made advance notice to  customers mandatory for banks before making any change in the minimum balance requirement. Read details below...

Banking Ombudsmen to Accept Complaints Involving Amounts Exceeding Rs. 10 Lakh

One area of confusion relating to the Banking Ombudsman Scheme has been the ceiling on the amount involved in a complaint that can be entertained by a Banking Ombudsman (BO) in India. Some believe that a Banking Ombudsman in India shall not accept a complaint if the amount involved in the transaction leading to the complaint is more than Rs. 10 Lakh (One Million). Factual position, however, is different. The Annual Report of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme for the year 2011-12 released by RBI's Customer Service Department contains a clarification in this regard. It says, "Clause 12(5) and 12(6) establish pecuniary jurisdiction of the BO i.e. the ceiling upto which BO can award monetary compensation. Under Clause 12(5), BO has powers to pass an award directing payment of an amount, not more than the actual loss suffered by the complainant as a direct consequence of an act of omission or commission of the bank, or Rs. 10 Lakh, whichever is lower." This, however, does not mean that a BO will not accept a complaint where the amount of transaction leading to the complaint exceeds Rs. 10 Lakh.  Read more below...

Petrol Pumps Prime Suspects in Card Cloning

Incidents of Debit and Credit Card cloning in India are on the rise. During the last three years, customers of several banks in the country have complained of fraudulent withdrawals of money from their accounts through ATMs using cloned ATM cards. Similarly, there are several complaints of cloning of Credit Cards that ultimately get used either online or at merchant establishments. Till recently, both banks and the Police have been clueless as to the source of cloning. Fortunately, during the last few months, some details have begun to emerge that point to the strong likelihood that Debit or Credit Cards get cloned during their use at Petrol Pumps. In September 2012, The Financial Express had reported that State Bank of India had submitted to the Cyber Crime Police in Chandigarh that in majority of the complaints of suspected card cloning, the customers had used their cards to pay for fuel at petrol pumps. SBI had specifically pointed to Sector 21 and Sector 39 Petrol Pumps. This is the link to the original news report: http://www.financialexpress.com/news/sbi-points-to-petrol-pump-link-in-atm-card-cloning/1001430 Read more below...

ATM Keypad Jamming Fraud - Use the Power of Zero

One modus operandi of ATM fraudsters is to simply jam one digit in the ATM's keypad that is used by customers to enter ATM PIN and the amount to be withdrawn. Fraudsters most often jam the zero because most of the customers do not have a zero in their four digit ATM PIN. This way, the customer is able to enter the ATM PIN and authenticate his card. But when it comes to entering the amount to be withdrawn, the customer would need to enter zero twice because ATMs dispense money in round fighres only. Now because the fraudster has jammed the zero in the keypad, the customer will probably try to enter the amount a few times and eventually give up and leave the ATM. After the customer leaves, the fraudster quickly enters the ATM cabin, releases the jammed zero key, enters an amount and takes money from the hapless customer's account. Read the solution to this probelm below...

ATM Frauds by Staff and Agents of Punjab National Bank

Febraury 16, 2013: The Times of India reported that four employees of the Cash Handing Firm employed by Punjab National Bank had stolen around Rs. 5 crore from ATMs of Punjab National Bank in Delhi by inserting higher denomination notes in the cassettes meant for lower denominations. After making the unauthorised changes, the fraudsters would withdraw cash by using some debit cards. When they withdrew Rs. 4000 (10 notes of Rs. 100) from the their account, the machine dispensed Rs. 40,000 (10 notes of Rs. 1000). After making the withdrawal, the fraudsters would again switch the cassettes in the ATM to normal position. The fraud continued during October 2010 and January 2013. It is unexplained how Punjab National Bank allowed this fraud to continue for such a long time. Read more below...