MHA drafts new norms for cash vans

Increased cash van loots have prompted the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to give a legal sanction to its guidelines for securing vehicles transporting cash across the country.

The 2016 Standard Operating Procedures that included GPS tracking of cash vans installed with CCTV cameras and trained armed staff among other measures has now been sent to the Law Ministry seeking an approval for making it part of rules under the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005.

Officials said if these guidelines are incorporated as rules under the law that governs the functioning of private security agencies it will be more potent and effective.

"There are no rules till now and all banks go in for the lowest bidder without going looking into the security measures," said a home ministry official.

"If they are made part of the act as rules there will be standardisation of security measures for all security vans that will be mandatory for security agencies to implement," the official added.

Currently there are nearly 8,000 privately owned cash vans transporting close to Rs 15,000 crore currency every day, officials said.

The guidelines also state that the cash vans should not load money in ATS after 9 pm in urban areas and 5 pm in rural areas. In Maoist areas it should be done between 9 am and 4 pm.

It also puts a cap of Rs 5 crore on each van per trip.

There is no specific vehicle-make is used, which can be proven as a security hazard. "There have been a spate of incidents and a minimum benchmark for security should be put in place," a home ministry official dealing with the proposal to the law ministry said.

The cash van should be specially designed falling under the category of light motor vehicle. There should be a separate cash compartment not accessible from outside the van. The CCTV cameras must have backup footage up to 30 days.

Looting of cash vans in conflict zones like and Kashmir and Maoist controlled areas has been a concern.

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• The guidelines also state that the cash vans should not load money in ATMs after 9 pm in urban areas and 5 pm in rural areas. In Maoist areas it should be done between 9 am and 4 pm