If you use credit cards for your transactions, this free legal advice may be useful to you. Recently, a young IT professional came to me with a query regarding credit cards. He was issued a credit card by Bank X and a sum of Rs 8,000 was wrongly debited against the said card. Immediately, he informed the bank and the bank promised to reverse the debit. Following this mix up, he stopped using the card. So far, the story runs smooth.
Here comes the glitch. Two years down the lane, he receives a credit card statement for Rs.32,000! He sought the bank's assistance to get the full credit card statement to understand how this happened, given that he hadn't used the credit card since the mix-up he had reported officially to the bank.
Free Legal Advice for using Credit Cards
What's the way forward? Keep these simple legal tips in mind while using credit cards:
1. If a wrong debit has been reversed as per the Bank's communication to the customer, the bank should have reversed the interest as well as other charges that was levied on the first amount.
2. The important thing is that the customer should have conducted an immediate follow up to get a detailed statement of the reversal of charges.
3. Simply not using the credit card was not enough - that didn't help, did it? Besides, where's the legal closure that one needs to show in terms of proof of communication and subsequent action from the bank?
Free Legal Advice: How to leverage Code of Bank's Commitment to the Customer
As a customer who feels wronged, the first point of contact is the bank's nodal officer whereby one can explain what happened and request the mistake to be rectified. If required, you have to go through the provisions of The Code of Bank's Commitment to the Customer. This Code specifically states that it will provide a credit card statement to the card holder every month free of cost at the mailing address as per the bank's records. It also states that in the event of non-receipt of information, the bank will resend the details when a request is received from the card holder.
Free Legal Advice: How to send copy of communication to RBI Customer Service Dept
In writing, bring this to the notice of the bank and send a copy of your communication with the timeline and details to the customer service department of the Reserve Bank of India. If you receive no reply or follow up, you can directly file a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman in your state.
Here comes the glitch. Two years down the lane, he receives a credit card statement for Rs.32,000! He sought the bank's assistance to get the full credit card statement to understand how this happened, given that he hadn't used the credit card since the mix-up he had reported officially to the bank.
Free Legal Advice for using Credit Cards
What's the way forward? Keep these simple legal tips in mind while using credit cards:
2. The important thing is that the customer should have conducted an immediate follow up to get a detailed statement of the reversal of charges.
3. Simply not using the credit card was not enough - that didn't help, did it? Besides, where's the legal closure that one needs to show in terms of proof of communication and subsequent action from the bank?
Free Legal Advice: How to leverage Code of Bank's Commitment to the Customer
As a customer who feels wronged, the first point of contact is the bank's nodal officer whereby one can explain what happened and request the mistake to be rectified. If required, you have to go through the provisions of The Code of Bank's Commitment to the Customer. This Code specifically states that it will provide a credit card statement to the card holder every month free of cost at the mailing address as per the bank's records. It also states that in the event of non-receipt of information, the bank will resend the details when a request is received from the card holder.
Free Legal Advice: How to send copy of communication to RBI Customer Service Dept
In writing, bring this to the notice of the bank and send a copy of your communication with the timeline and details to the customer service department of the Reserve Bank of India. If you receive no reply or follow up, you can directly file a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman in your state.
