MUMBAI: RBI has partially reversed an earlier directive to disable cash retraction facility in ATMs. The facility was originally disabled in Jan 2012 due to concerns over fraud.
The cash retraction facility refers to the built-in feature in ATMs where the machine pulls back currency notes if the customer does not collect them from the dispenser in time. Previously, when the machine retracted cash, server logs recorded that the dispensed cash was retracted. However, fraudsters exploited this feature by picking up some of the cash, causing the machine logs to record a cash retraction. Disabling this feature put an end to such frauds.
However, in the past year, a different fraud has emerged. The fake shutter overlay fraud involves criminals attaching a fake cover over the ATM’s cash dispensing slot, which traps the dispensed cash. Fraudsters then retrieve the cash after the customer leaves thinking the transaction has failed. By re-enabling cash retraction, customers have a better chance of retrieving their cash if the machine is targeted by fraudsters.
NPCI, in a letter to all members of the National Financial Switch, which manages India’s ATM network, stated that after discussing solutions to the fake shutter overlay fraud, industry members, banks and ATM companies, submitted their recommendations, which were passed on to RBI.
Bankers said that the retraction facility will be introduced only in those ATMs that are susceptible to fraud.
