Court Exempts Teller Machines

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court, sidestepping a dispute in the banking industry, today let stand a lower court ruling that exempts automated teller machines set up by retail businesses from state law and federal regulation.

The justices refused to hear an appeal by the Independent Bankers Assn. of New York state, which had challenged the placement of a teller machine in a Canandaigua grocery store for use by customers of Marine Midland Bank. The banks had argued that the money machine should be subject to state laws and federal regulations just as a branch bank would be.