New Delhi: HDFC Bank has illegally withdrawn Rs 56,763 from a customer account to settle alleged debt with a credit card that has not been requested or used.
This episode happened at the HDFC Gurguram branch where the bank issued a customer a credit card (name retained) that was received but never used.
In 2015-16, the bank began sending out Rs 14,500 bills for a card that was never requested but received and not used. There was no answer to the customer’s request.
When the customer contacted the store manager, he was asked to destroy the card and send it to the Chennai office, which he did in his presence. Unfortunately, the customer continued to receive credit card bills. The harassed customer then began to write emails to Aditya Puri, the then CEO of the bank. Although these emails were confirmed, there was no resolution on the matter. The follow-ups were always at the customer’s request, but all without success. In 2021, the bank started harassing the customer again when the customer’s employer was called over credit card statements.
The bank then sent a legal notice for the credit card. The same customer also had an HDFC Standard Life policy and when the amount was due, HDFC Bank debited Rs 56,763 from the bank account instead of the credit card bills.
According to the guidelines of the RBI, the bank is not allowed to hold money in the savings account to pay off these debts. This debt arose from a credit card and should have been treated as a separate issue. What’s worse is that as part of the redemption process, a canceled check was issued by Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Life continually delayed billing for not receiving the mail. When the amount was credited to said account after repeated requests, the money evaporated.
The bank has not provided any transaction statements and banknotes that have actually been signed by the bank customer, or any documents that prove the application or use of the credit card.
The credit card is a prepayment plan instrument and requires the bank to ensure that the instrument, when issued, is in the possession of the rightful owner and not in any frivolous record in the database. The card / instrument was obtained from the rightful owner but challenged from the start.
The bank and debt collection agencies have made several attempts to call and harass the customer on file. The recorded e-mails show that the bank has repeatedly requested clarification as to how the credit card was actually used by the customer. The bank has fled its responsibility.
There is no record of the application for such a credit card being made. The credit card is not displayed in the HDFC portal and there is no data available to even contest the claim. In order to clarify the matter, the bank prevented the customer from real information and left the customer to the control and illegal practice of various collection agencies.
The matter took place at the HDFC Gurugram office, but the Chennai office that was pursuing the matter was raised for no particular reason. This was done to make it inaccessible for the customer to resolve the problem. That the client has repeatedly visited the Gurugram Branch to clarify the matter, but since 2014 the whole matter has been denied without giving any reason.
According to the guidelines of the RBI, banks have limited access to exercise their lien. The bank cannot exercise a lien on a customer’s private account. According to the guidelines, a credit card account is always separate from it because a person is acting in a different capacity than the savings account understands.
The bank’s failure to clarify the matter and suddenly decide to charge the savings account with enormous interest is both a lack of service and misconduct that affects many customers every day.
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