Double trouble

I received a call in November 2006 from the State Bank of India Card office in Delhi coaxing me to accept an insurance policy for an annual premium of Rs 3,259. The caller informed me that I could cancel the transaction within 30 days of receiving the policy if I did not find the offer suitable. I agreed to this suggestion. Subsequently, I received a policy certificate (no. CS00055454000100) from Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Co. Ltd mentioning the premium to be paid as Rs 3,259. This is where the trouble started. When I got the statement, I was shocked to see that an amount of Rs 8,093.43 was due on my account.

I found that Rs 3,259 had appeared twice with a few other charges in the statement. Immediately, I sent them an e-mail asking for a corrected bill, barring which I would be compelled not only to cancel the transaction but also to return the credit card itself. I did not receive any response from them regarding this till December 12, 2006. I sent them an e-mail again requesting them to cancel my policy and to close my card account with immediate effect. Consequently, I got a confirmation of the cancellation of the insurance policy and reversal of part of the premium amount of Rs 1,630 both from the insurance company and the SBI Card office.

On April 14, 2007, Ajay Bharti, AVP, customer services, SBI Card services, in response to my e-mail dated April 2, finally confirmed that my account had been erroneously debited twice for Rs 3,259. As such, Rs 3,260 would be credited to my account.

However, my troubles didn’t end there. Despite an assurance from their customer services department, the accounts department of SBI Card kept on sending me letters asking me to clear the outstanding dues, which at present stand at Rs 4,482.66 (as of May 10, 2007).

I have also approached the directorate of consumer affairs and fair business practices who tried for an amicable settlement of the dispute by inviting the SBI Card officials on May 15, 2007.

However, no one from the SBI Card office responded to the request and the meeting was called off after I waited for almost an hour at the directorate’s office at Bhawani Bhavan. What are my options now?

P.K. Roy Chowdhury,
Flat D-2, Trinayani,
31/N/1 Siddhinath Chatterjee Road, Calcutta-700034.

Company Response: No response.

The expert: It is indeed unfortunate that almost all banks offering credit card facilities to consumers in India have started indulging in fraudulent practices. The most common one is to send fictitious statements to customers’ accounts.

Also at times, even after surrendering a card, a consumer receives a notice from the credit card company to cough up a hefty sum pending on the expired card. This, after the customer has already settled the claim with the concerned bank. Unfortunately, till date, the RBI has not been able to formulate any scheme to stop these types of unfair trade practices.

Moreover, in recent times, instead of taking recourse to law, banks are hiring agencies and goons to recover their purported dues. In some cases, these agencies and goons are taking away the cars of consumers forcibly on the plea that the so-called EMI dues hadn’t been cleared. So they, as agents of the bank, had no other option but to take away the car by force.

In fact, these agencies are getting away with such acts due to the active assistance of the local police. The main reason is that relatives of police personnel are employed in these agencies, hence these kinds of complaints lodged by aggrieved consumers end up in the waste paper basket. Under these circumstances, it would be wise for you to file a writ before the high court.

Blame game

I had purchased five Reliance India STD cards of Rs 215 each from a Reliance-authorised dealer. However, when I tried to use one of the cards, it could not be activated.

On contacting the dealer, he explained that the validity of the cards had expired and that they could not be used any longer. When I requested him to refund the money, he told me that this would only be possible if Reliance took it back. On his request, I deposited the coupons with him so that he could take up the case with the dealer. He asked me to visit him after a few months. After the elapse of the stipulated time, I visited him again. He told me that the concerned coupons had been sent to the distributor. He, however, had not accepted the coupons and had returned them. What should I do now?

Bajrang Lal Agarwal,
27/1 Rose Mary Lane,
Howrah-711101.

Company Response : No response from Reliance India.

The expert: The complainant has not provided the particulars of the date of purchase in the complaint. Under such circumstances, it would not be wise for the complainant to blame either the authorised dealer or the distributor. If someone purchases these cards and keeps the same in the locker without noticing their expiry date then he has only himself to blame for this. In this particular case, the complainant cannot shift the blame to others.

Stony silence

I invested Rs 93,000 in M/s Lloyds Finance Ltd in the name of my wife, daughters and myself under the one year and one day fixed deposit scheme. The fixed deposits were supposed to mature in 1999. Since then, I have sent several letters to the company but have not received any response from them. I understand that M/s Lloyds Finance Ltd did not even care to obey the order of the Company Law Board.

Debabrata Dey, Anima Dey,
Jhumkai Dey and Chumkai Dey,
Pirtala, 48 Mankundu Station Road,
PO and PS Chandannagar-712136,
Hooghly, West Bengal.

Company Response: No response from M/s Lloyds Finance Ltd.

The expert: M/s Lloyds Finance Ltd approached the apex court of the country in SLP (c) no. 8564-8569/2003 against A.L. Katyal and others on 17.12.2004. Upon hearing the same, the apex court had granted the leave but had observed that “there shall be no stay”. In these circumstances, the complainant can very well approach the consumer fora for relief and redress.