New Delhi: The government on Friday suggested that around 74% of the automated teller machines (ATMs) operated by public sector banks were being run on outdated software which could exacerbate the risk of frauds.
The statement came in response to a question raised in the Parliament regarding the running of ATMs on 'unsupported' software.
Despite the entry of private players, a significant chunk of the ATMs are controlled by the public sector banks. The government revealed that 89% of the cash dispensing machines were controlled by public sector banks.
In the recent months, the country has witnessed a sharp spike in the cases of ATM frauds. The government told Parliament that between July 2017 and June 2018, the RBI had received around 25,000 complaints pertaining to debit and credit cards.
Sensing the increasing risks of security breach, the Reserve Bank of India has repeatedly issued warnings about the need to upgrade, however, most banks have failed to comply.
The government’s indication comes just weeks after the Reserve Bank of India sent a fresh directive ordering banks to upgrade their software by June 2019, or face penalty.
The latest circular from RBI said that private and public banks must upgrade their system by switching from the Windows XP operating system to the latest OS software.
"The slow progress on the part of the banks in addressing these issues has been viewed seriously by the RBI..The vulnerability arising from the banks' ATMs operating on unsupported version of operating system and non-implementation of other security measures, could potentially affect the interests of the banks' customers adversely, apart from such occurrences, if any, impinging on the image of the bank," RBI had said in its advisory.
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