Private Security Agencies in India

PSARA is the central law that controls private guard firms. Its full name is the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005.

Look at a mall, a bank or a housing society. A guard almost always stands at the gate. These guards are not police. They work for private firms, so a law must check those firms.

When did PSARA become law?

It received assent on 23 June 2005. It is Act 29 of 2005. Its aim is short: to regulate private security agencies.

What counts as a private security agency?

The Act uses a wide meaning. An agency is any person or group, other than a government body, in the business of guarding. It may do any of these:

• Supply guards to a firm, a person or a building.
• Train guards or their supervisors.
• Run an armoured car service, with armed guards and an armoured car.

A guard is a person who protects people or property, with or without arms. A supervisor also counts as a guard.

Who runs PSARA in each state?

Each state names an officer called the Controlling Authority. He must hold at least the rank of Joint Secretary in the state Home Department, or an equal rank.

This officer gives licences and keeps watch on agencies. The state may give him extra staff for the work.

Is the law the same in every state?

The Act is one central law. But the fine details can differ from state to state.

• Section 24: the Centre may frame model rules. States must follow them “so far as is practicable”.
• Section 25: each state makes its own rules under the Act.

No one may run a private security agency without a licence. This rule sits in Section 4, and it is the heart of the Act.

How does an agency apply?

It applies to the Controlling Authority. The fee depends on the area it covers.

The officer first gets a no-objection note from the police. He must then grant or refuse the licence within 60 days. A refusal needs a hearing and written reasons.

How long does a licence last?

• A licence is valid for 5 years.
• It can be renewed for 5 more years at a time.
• The agency must apply for renewal at least 45 days before it ends.
• The officer should decide a renewal within 30 days.

What must a new agency do?

• Start work within 6 months of getting the licence.
• Hire supervisors within 60 days of the licence.
• Train its guards and supervisors as the rules require.
• Display its licence in a place where people can see it.
• Keep a register of its managers, its guards, their pay and its clients.

It cannot guard anyone abroad without the officer’s permission. The officer must consult the Centre before he agrees.

Who cannot get a licence?

Section 6 shuts out some people and firms:

• A person convicted of an offence that carries at least two years in jail.
• A person removed from government service for misconduct.
• A person linked to a banned group that threatens national security.
• A firm that is not registered in India.
• A firm whose owner, main shareholder, partner or director is not an Indian citizen.

Can an agency appeal?

Yes, it can. It may appeal to the state Home Secretary within 60 days. This covers a refused licence, a refused renewal, a suspension or a cancellation.

A guard must be an Indian citizen aged 18 or more, and below 65. He must also finish the set training.

What does Section 10 ask of a guard?

• He must be a citizen of India, or of a country the Centre names.
• He must be at least 18 and below 65 years old.
• His character and past must be checked.
• He must finish the training set by the rules.
• He must meet the physical standards.

As of February 2022, there was no plan to change this age limit.

Who is barred from the job?

A person convicted by a court cannot be a guard. Nor can a person dismissed for misconduct from the armed forces, police, government or another agency.

Who gets preference?

Agencies may prefer people who served in the Army, Navy, Air Force, police or Home Guards. For supervisors, preference goes to people with at least three years of such service.

What must a guard carry?

Every guard gets a photo identity card from his agency. He must carry it at work. He must show it when the Controlling Authority asks.

How many hours of training?

The Central Model Rules, 2020 set the minimum. They replaced the older model rules of 2006.

Memory hook: 100 + 60 for a new guard. 40 + 16 for a former soldier or police officer.

Who runs the training schools?

Under a May 2023 procedure, every training school must seek approval from the Controlling Authority. The approval lasts five years and can be renewed.

• The officer should inspect each school at least twice a year.
• Each trainee who passes gets a certificate from the school.
• A certificate from one state is valid across India.

Cash-van staff take the same training as other guards.

Not as a guard. PSARA gives guards no special power to arrest. A guard has only the power that any citizen has.

Does PSARA give guards special powers?

No, it does not. The Act gives agencies and guards no special privileges or immunities. It has no section on arrest at all.

What arrest power does any citizen have?

It sits in Section 40 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS). The BNSS is India’s new law on criminal procedure. Parliament passed it as Act 46 of 2023.

A private person may arrest someone in only two cases:

• The person commits a non-bailable and cognizable offence in front of him.
• The person is a proclaimed offender.

Here is what these words mean:

• Cognizable: police may arrest for it without a warrant.
• Non-bailable: a serious offence where bail is not a right.
• Proclaimed offender: a person a court has declared to be on the run.

What must happen after such an arrest?

• The arrested person must go to a police officer within six hours.
• There must be no needless delay, even inside those six hours.
• If no police officer is near, he goes to the nearest police station.
• If police see a case for arrest, they take him into custody.
• If there is no good reason to suspect an offence, he is released at once.

What is a guard’s real job, then?

A guard watches, deters and reports. If he sees a law broken, he must tell his superior. The superior then informs the police.

Guards must also help the police in any probe into their agency’s work.

Running an agency without a licence is a crime that can bring jail. Most other breaches bring a fine and action on the licence.

What are the penalties?

Sections 9, 10 and 12 cover the start of work, supervisors and training, guard rules, and display of the licence.

For the uniform offence, both the guard and the agency owner can be punished.

Did these paperwork breaches ever carry jail?

No, they did not. Under the Act as passed in 2005, breaking Section 9, 10 or 12 brought only a fine. Jail was kept for two things: running with no licence and misuse of uniforms.

When can a licence be cancelled?

The Controlling Authority may cancel a licence on set grounds. Here are some of them:

• The licence was won by hiding or twisting facts.
• The agency broke the Act, its rules or its licence terms.
• It claimed to be part of the government.
• It did not help the police, or it threatened national security.
• Its guards failed on duty again and again, stole, or committed crimes.
• It broke labour laws listed in the Act, such as the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.

Is there a warning stage?

Yes, there is. The officer may first suspend a licence for up to 30 days. The agency then has 15 days to show cause. The suspension can be extended until the cancellation question is decided.

No licence can be cancelled before the agency gets a fair hearing.

The Centre keeps no central count of agencies. The portal counts agency licences, not guards. States hold that data.

What does the licence count show?

In 2019, the Centre built an online portal for states to issue licences. It counts agency licences, not guards.

• 28 January 2022: 16,427 valid licences.
• 30 November 2023: 21,835 licences.
• 11 October 2026: 31,176 active licences. In all, 57,783 had been issued and 26,607 had expired.

On that day, Maharashtra had the most active licences, with 5,581. Gujarat had 3,806 and Uttar Pradesh had 3,630.

The data keeps changing, and states hold the master records. So the real figures may differ from the portal.

Are there special rules for cash vans?

Yes, there are. In 2018, the Centre notified separate rules for private guards who move cash. These sit beside the Central Model Rules, 2020.

What changed in 2026?

By 2 April 2026, both Houses of Parliament had passed the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Bill, 2026. It aims to decriminalise minor offences across many laws.

• It amended 784 provisions in 79 Central Acts.
• Of these, 717 provisions were decriminalised.
• Another 67 were changed to make daily life easier.

Be careful with any claim that a 2026 change “removed criminal liability” under PSARA. As first passed, the Act already set only a fine for Sections 9, 10 and 12. The power to cancel a licence sits apart, in Section 13.

Exams mostly test the numbers in the Act and the limits of a guard’s power. Watch out for these traps.

What are the traps?

1. Year and number. PSARA is Act 29 of 2005, dated 23 June 2005.
2. Who licenses? A state officer gives licences, not the Union Home Ministry.
3. Two training tracks. New guards need 100 + 60 hours. Former soldiers and police need 40 + 16 hours.
4. Age band. A guard must be 18 or more and below 65.
5. Arrest power. A guard has only a private person’s power, with a six-hour handover.
6. Jail or fine? Jail is for no licence or a wrong uniform. Sections 9, 10 and 12 bring a fine.
7. Licences are not guards. Portal figures count agency licences only.

How can you remember the licence numbers?

Think “5, 5, 45, 30”. A licence runs 5 years and renews for 5. Apply 45 days early, and expect a reply in 30.