Withdrawing cash from ATMs may land you in trouble; robbery, burglary on a rise

Withdrawing cash from your savings account can land you in trouble as the cases of robbery, dacoity, burglary, and theft in ATMs are on a rise. In FY18, 303 such cases took place, which shot up to 515 in the last fiscal year 2018-19. Most of the cases of robbery and burglary were reported in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, and Haryana, Anurag Thakur, MoS, Ministry of Finance, said in a reply to a question in Lok Sabha. Even in the half-year of the current fiscal year, 238 such cases have already been reported.

In case of unauthorised transactions occurring due to contributory fraud, negligence, or deficiency on the part of the bank and due to third party breach, the customer is entitled to zero liability if the bank has been notified within three working days, according to an RBI circular. However, the bank has to bear the loss if the amount is not recovered. 

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Though the banks have been advised by the RBI to initiate immediate action to implement the control measures for ATM, including up-gradation of software and to closely monitor the compliance, the cases related to robbery and burglary have surged in the recent past. The banks have also been advised to ensure that all active cards issued by the banks are EMV Chip and Pin-based; and the banks should provide customers with 24×7 access through multiple channels for reporting unauthorised transactions that have taken place or theft of payment instrument, such as card.

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Meanwhile, the cases involving ATM Cards or Internet banking frauds have also surged in the last three financial years. In FY19, most cases related to such frauds took place in Maharashtra (233) and Delhi NCR (179). These frauds mostly hit the State Bank of India and Kotak Mahindra Bank, followed by ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.