ATM bother

Oct. 2: HDFC Bank limited withdrawals to Rs 5,000 today, the second time in a month, because of an unannounced “maintenance” that sent stunned customers scurrying for cash in the middle of Id celebrations.

The troubles for customers of the second-largest private bank increased when some of them complained that their debit cards couldn’t be swiped for purchases or bills.

Many were left embarrassed when the swipe machines threw up messages saying their accounts had “insufficient funds”. Net banking, too, couldn’t be accessed for much of the day because of the “maintenance”.

The bank said it had chosen today, a holiday, for the work, suggesting the inconvenience would have been greater if the overhaul was carried out on a working day.

“It (limited withdrawal) was because of maintenance of our systems from 6am. Initially, customers weren’t allowed to withdraw more than Rs 5,000 from ATMs but later the cap was removed and one could withdraw as much as Rs 15,000,” said a bank official.

The “maintenance would have created problems for many more had we done it on a working day”, he added.

The explanation didn’t convince customers. “This is the second time the bank has faltered. Today is Id. I needed the money,” complained Naseer Ahmed, who came to withdraw money from the Stephen House ATM in Calcutta.

Withdrawals up to Rs 15,000 were, indeed, possible in the evening but the relief meant little to those who had to abort shopping plans.

At shops and bill-payment centres, it was as much about loss of face as about having transactions declined. “I was angry and embarrassed when I found my debit cards wouldn’t work as I went to pay my utility bills today,” said one harried customer in Mumbai.

He realised that the problem lay with the bank when he discovered that ATM withdrawals had been restricted. “That is probably why the debit cards wouldn’t work at the utility’s payment centre,” he added.

Many were upset that the bank had chosen to keep them in the dark about the disruption on a festival day while smothering customers at other times with promotional messages.

There was no word from the bank on the lack of prior information on today’s withdrawal limit.

A Mumbai-based official of the bank claimed the entire system was back to normal around 3.30pm.

On September 2, a technical snag had not only limited ATM withdrawals but also hit those with corporate salary accounts.

Many had complained that their salary hadn’t been credited to their accounts.

HDFC Bank has a network of 1,229 branches and 2,526 ATMs in 444 towns. It has over 12 million retail customers.