Licence, armed guards, vans with GPS must for cash collection companies

GURUGRAM: The police on Thursday issued detailed guidelines directing banks and financial institutions not to engage any agency that doesn’t have proper licence and approval for cash collection and transportation. It also made all cash-collection vehicles to mandatorily have a global positioning system (GPS), trained manpower and two-armed security guards.
Cash collection vehicles, police said, have also been debarred from carrying more than Rs 5 crore, while the onus to alert cops and seek protection, if required, for transportation of cash above Rs 25 lakh has been put on banks and financial institutions. The violation of the guidelines, they said, would attract imprisonment of up to six months and a penalty.
The directive comes on the heels of a daylight robbery on April 18 when a group of robbers looted Rs 96.93 lakh from a cash collection van on Sohna Road. The vehicle, police had then said, did not follow any safety protocol and had no security guard and locker system.
The guidelines, issued by DCP (headquarters) Astha Modi, enlist a host of directives to banks and cash collection companies. While banks have been directed not to engage any private agency for cash collection, unless they have a licence under Haryana Private Security Agency (Regulation) Act, cash vans have been mandated to have a required number of staff with two armed security guards.
“A cash van shall always be escorted by at least two trained armed security guards on board,” the DCP said, adding that more than two guards should be deputed depending on the amount of the cash carried by a van.
The directives further state that one security guard should sit in the front of the van along with the driver and another in the rear portion. “No personnel shall be deployed for cash transportation activities unless such persons have undergone antecedent check, KYC verification and police verification before the appointment. Every personnel appointed for cash transportation needs to have a training certificate for security and safe handling of such activities and they should undergo refresher training after every two years,” it added.
Cash vans will also have to be fitted with GPS and monitored at all times during transportation.
As per the directive, all ATMs should be fitted with a one-time electronic combination lock for reducing the instances of crew pilferage losses and fraud. No cash loading in ATMs and cash transportation will be done after 9pm in urban areas and after 6pm in rural areas, it added.
“Each ATM should have well-trained and armed security guards and its premises. ATM premises should be covered with CCTV and footage should be stored for at least two months,” the order said.