Demonetisation and now digitisation have made us heavily dependent on ATMs, online payment gateways and other electronic mediums like Paytm, UPI, Bhim etc. But what if these systems don’t run in the times of urgent needs? Can banks be held accountable? The answer is yes! The court held so in a recent case.

Banks owe the customers responsibility for any kind of deficiencies and they are bound to educate them about processes involved in day-to-day banking. Customers can’t be expected to know the procedural part in banks which are changed every now and then.
Even though banks have customer care centres for quick redressal of complaints, they are often unreachable or unresponsive in times of dire needs. So who will be responsible in these situations? Banks.

Consumer Complaint against Banks
Consumer Complaint against Banks

Facts of the case
Yadvinder Singh, a resident of Shastri Nagar, Manimajra filed a complaint against State Bank of India situated in the District Court, sector 43, Chandigarh. He claimed that on 9 May, 2018 he opened his account with the State Bank of India after following due procedure and deposited money in his account. His ATM card arrived in fifteen-twenty days. After around one and a half month, he went to his village and required money for his medical expenses. He went to the ATM and even though there were sufficient funds in the account, he was unable to withdraw the required amount. He ended up borrowing the money from someone. He filed a complaint against the bank where the bank stated that they were unable to process the transaction as the customer’s KYC was unapproved. The consumer forum found the bank to be guilty and an amount of Rs. 5,000 was ordered to be paid to the complainant as compensation for mental agony and expenses for case proceedings. The forum said that banks should update the KYC of the customers as soon as possible and allow them to make use of all their services.

You may also take expert legal advice from best/top/expert consumer advocates/lawyers in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula for any of your specific grievances against banks for not fulfilling their duties and obligations.

To big businesses, loans are provided within seconds and for a common man, even hours worth of processing is not enough for documentation. The banks need to be humane and practical while dealing with customers rather than citing their own limitations, only then our economy can prosper.

For more information on the subject, please dial 9988817966.