This blog has now moved to its own domain hosting site. This blog is no longer being updated.

For an updated website visit us at www.creditconsumersassociation.org

Thank You for visiting us here, we look forward to being of service to you at our new web site address.

Vinod Chand
Hon. General Secretary.
Credit Consumers Association,
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

Goes to show that banks are taking note of the Cheques as a Collateral verdict of the Bombay High Court. If only someone talked sense into these banks about doing business in a fair way, there would be no need for an organization like ours to exist.

But bottom line and fat bonuses can not be had in doing business the fair way!

NEW DELHI: If you are among thousands of credit card holders who have been blacklisted in the banks’ central database even after dues have been settled, there’s some relief coming your way. RBI is framing guidelines telling banks not to declare someone a defaulter if the person has settled his or her account with the bank after paying the negotiated amount.

At present, even if a card holder pays the negotiated amount, the client is continued to be treated as a defaulter in the bank’s records. Because of this, the name features in the defaulters list prepared by Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd (CIBIL), which depends on the information provided by banks for the purpose.

Read rest of the report

Ever since CCAI came into existence we have been representing to the regulator about this fact. It has taken them four years to wake up to this menace. I am sure one of the RBI officers must have fallen into this trap and woken up to the problem. Otherwise RBI is a giant that sleeps.

When they plan to increase your rate or other fees. Your credit card company must send you a notice 45 days before they can
o increase your interest rate;
o change certain fees (such as annual fees, cash advance fees, and late fees) that apply to your account; or
o make other significant changes to the terms of your card.

If your credit card company is going to make changes to the terms of your card, it must give you the option to cancel the card before certain fee increases take effect. If you take that option, however, your credit card company may close your account and increase your monthly payment, subject to certain limitations.

For example, they can require you to pay the balance off in five years, or they can double the percentage of your balance used to calculate your minimum payment (which will result in faster repayment than under the terms of your account).

Read rest of the article here

Under the Negotiable Instruments Act, a cheque that bounces can lead to criminal prosecution of the issuer of the cheque.

It has been our case that Banks and other lenders obtain blank post dated cheques from the borrower when they give a loan, especially a personal loan where they normally advertise that security or collateral is not required.

But during the sanction process they do take blank post dated / undated cheques from the borrower.

We have raised this matter with RBI in our letter to the Governor but there has been no response till date.

Now we do not require a response from the RBI because in a landmark judgment, Justice P.R. Borkar of Bombay High Court has held that such cheques obtained before the sanction of loan can not be used as an excuse for speeding up recovery of bad loans by using the threat of prosecution under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

What does this mean to me and you is that when a bank threatens to use your post dated cheques and drag you to court if they bounce, tell the bank to just go ahead and deposit your cheques. They can not drag you to court because the cheques have not been issued in discharge of an existing liability. They were obtained by the bank in discharge of a future liability, which according to the judgment does not hold water under the Negotiable Instruments Act.

Download the entire judgment here

When issuing loans for cars, home mortgages and other forms of debt, banks conduct a thorough credit screening of applicants. But when the same banks issue loans in the form of credit cards, “people with bad credit histories, as well as those who have declared bankruptcy or who have an income level that is too low to justify the credit lines that they are given, all receive high-interest credit,” Goldstein wrote.

Download the complete article here

The annual Card Fraud Index from CPP found card crime in the Welsh capital had jumped by 17% in the past two years. A staggering 37% of people in Cardiff have fallen victim to card crime in the past.

Of course it’s not just Cardiff – London is almost as bad, with 35% of people having been defrauded, followed by Norwich (30%), Southampton (28%) and Leeds (27%).

Worst 10 UK cities for card fraud

City

Percentage defrauded

Here’s the top ten cities where card fraud is at its worst:

Worst 10 UK cities for card fraud

Read rest of the report here

I had credit cards of Standard Chartered Bank and there was balance of Rs. 21400 in Nov. 2001.

After receiving threatening calls, i along with one friend went to their recovery section in parel for settlement.

There i was confined and robbed of my personal belongings.

I lodged complaints of threatening to me as well as my family members with the commissioner of police of Mumbai & Navi Mumbai.

In Navi mumbai my NC was registered & in Mumbai my belongings were taken by NM Joshi Marg PS. Infact i was put under pressure to settle the matter by the PI.

I filed criminal case in sewri which forwarded for police investigation to NM Joshi Marg PS. Again i was pressuired by PI to get the case dismissed with a verbal assurance that bank will not ask anything.

i Obliged.

The matter remained dormant till now. Now the bank, perhaps the recovery agents have started calling me again for payment including interest till date.

please advise me.

Our Reply

We are shocked at the story that you are narrating. It shows the Standard Chartered Bank in very poor light and casts aspersions on Mumbai Police too.

Please clarify for us

Please clarify;

1. When you say you were confined and robbed of your belongings, where and when did this happen? In the premises of Standard Chartered Bank? or at the Police Station?
2. When did you lodge a complaint with the commissioner of police and do you have any documentary proof of the same? If so, can you scan and send me the proof?
3. When you say your belongings were taken by NM Joshi Police station, what belongings are you talking about? Are these the same that were taken away at Standard Chartered Bank, Parel branch?
4. Name the Police Inspector who pressurised you to settle the account.
5. Name the recovery agents and their phone numbers who are now threatening you.

Warm regards

Vinod Chand
Honorary General Secretary
Credit Consumers Association of India

9-12-2009
We now have the details.

Mr. Dhala visited SCB office at Parel along with a friend and offered to pay the dues. A lady whose name is unknown used the foulest of languages and robbed Mr. Dhala of his belongings including his wrist watch, Cash of Rs 130/-, Two credit cards, Spectacles, railway pass, telephone diary, pen, business diary, etc. He was confined because the office has electronically operated doors and he was not allowed to go out. The lady in question also dared Mr. Dhala to go lodge a police complaint and chided him that police was on their payroll and they would still come after him.

When Mr. Dhala lodged a police complaint, Mr. Milind Dalvi (posing as a PRO of SCB) approached the API Mr. Pravin Patil and offered to return the belongings. The API assured Mr. Dhala that once he takes back his belongings all action from SCB will cease. This was 8 years ago.

SCB is now back to its old tricks and Mr. Rahul Shamra, Assistant Manager refuses to acknowledge the problem. He says that there is outstanding on his account and the bank has sent him a lok adalat notice.

We at CCAI have no option but to go public with this issue and expose the shenanigans of SCB.

Vinod Chand
Hon General Secretary
Credit Consumers Association of India

SIM card problem costs senior citizen Rs 2 lakh

Read the story here

Our Response

1. The bank where the victim was banking has a system of providing a forgotten password over the mobile as an SMS.
2. The perpetrators knew this, either through a collusion of the bank employees or some other agency (like credit card collection agency) that the victim had a bank… account with a particular bank which followed this practice.
3. With the personal information available with the perpetrators, they called and reported a lost sim card to the mobile company. And in the meanwhile forged a driving license with the victims details.
4. Once the SIM card was blocked a new one was issued through a gallery of the mobile operator. It is possible that the gallery operator was hand in glove with them.
5. Then with this mobile, the perpetrators logged onto the banks online site and sent a lost password request. They got an SMS of a new password on the stolen SIM card. Voila they had access to the bank account online.

The concerned bank should stop this practice immediately. This is not the first such case to be reported. Police should be sensitized to the issue.

The police should find the IMEI number of the phone from where the SMS was sent by the bank. From the IMEI number the police can trace the owner of the phone and reach the culprits.

Regards

Vinod Chand
General Secretary,
Credit Consumers Association of India
Bandra(East), Mumbai