Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

On Friday, the government issued a statement in response to questions raised in the Parliament regarding automated teller machines (ATMs) running on an unsupported software, saying that as many as 74% of ATMs belonging to public sector banks are running on an outdated software Windows XP, which Microsoft itself had stopped supporting back in 2014. This signals a major risk for PSU bank ATMs, as an outdated software exacerbates the risk of frauds.

As of today, India has nearly 2 lakh ATMs all over the country, out of which a major chunk of them are controlled by public sector banks, despite the growth of many prominent private sector players over the years. It was revealed that about 89% of ATMs which run on outdated software’s belonged to the public sector players. However, the government refrained from disclosing details of such ATMs which are run by private sector banks.

Earlier this year in June, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed a strict timeline on all banks to upgrade their ATMs, or else face disciplinary action. According to the imposed timeline, banks have to implement improved security measures by the end of August and upgrade all their ATMs with a supported operating software by June 2019. However, the RBI also said that at least 25% of these ATMs should be updated by September this year, and by December 2018 at least 50% of them should have been updated.

In April 2017, the RBI had first raised this issue through a confidential circular addressed to all banks. The circular highlighted concerns about ATMs running on Windows XP or any other unsupported operating systems. But the RBI noted that progress on the matter has been slow, and has since then has warned all banks and white label ATM operators to take immediate action, or else face stern disciplinary measures. “It may be noted that any deficiency in timely and effective compliance with the instructions contained in this circular may invite appropriate supervisory enforcement action under applicable provisions of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 and/or Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007,” it said in the statement.

All of this comes after a sharp spike in the number of ATM frauds in recent months. In a Parliamentary session held sometime back, the government revealed that between the months of July 2017 and June 2018, the RBI had received around 25,000 complaints pertaining to debit and credit cards. These complaints then set the ball rolling for the need of more stringent security measures in ATMs.

By Kriti

Business news author and curator at The Indian Wire.

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