Cash vans to have new guidelines

New Delhi: Home Ministry is in the process of drafting detailed guidelines for cash vans that deliver money to banks and ATMs. Once the draft is formalised it will be discussed with other Ministries, States and all stake holders before the final set of guidelines are issued.

The Home Ministry is keen is that there should be a foolproof safety mechanism and uniform guidelines for all cash delivery vans.

According to the initial proposal there would be regulations on the type of vehicles that can be modified and used for transporting money to banks, ATMs and other institutions. “As of now agencies are using different vehicles in delivering cash which compromises security aspects. So we would want some uniformity to ensure that a particular type of vehicles are used for transporting money,’’a senior ministry official said.

It will also be mandatory for cash delivery vehicles to be fitted with GPS devices, which will have to be checked regularly, to ensure that all their movements can be tracked from a central control room.

In addition, timings for movement of cash delivery vans will also be regulated particularly in Naxal infested and terror prone areas.

The Ministry is keen that in such areas movement of cash vans should be regulated between 9 am and 4 pm. In the past there have been instances where cash vans have been targeted by militant groups in the Kashmir Valley.

In urban areas the timings of movement of such vehicles could be regulated from 9 am to 9 pm as there is a view that cash vans should not transport money during the night hours even in major metro cities.

There would be stringent background checks for staff deployed on these vehicles.