As per a new directive issued by the Home Ministry, no ATM will be refilled with cash after 9 pm in cities and 6 pm in rural areas from 2019 even as two armed guards will accompany crisp notes in transit .

However, the deadline for putting money in the ATMs located in Naxal-hit areas is 4 pm while private cash handling agencies must collect money from the banks in the first half of the day and transport notes only in armoured vehicles.

"No cash loading of the ATMs or cash transportation activities shall be done after 9 pm in urban areas, after 6 pm in rural areas and before 9 am or after 4 pm in the districts notified by the central government as Left Wing Extremism affected areas," the notification said.

In a notification, the Home Ministry said the new Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) would come into effect from February 8, 2019 in view of increasing incidents of attacks on cash vans, cash vaults, ATM frauds and other internal frauds leading to increased sense of insecurity.

The Ministry had also tightened security before, after and during the process of refilling ATMs.

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