[Sankar]

Originally Posted by SirAlec

I have a good hot headed Bihari friend who works in Ahmedabad.

Once when so called ICICI bank guys came to his flats for his credit card payment. He took them to a room which has no windows. And pretending to bring them refreshments. He locked them in and went to work.
The guy were locked for the whole day. And in the evening, he and his friends beat the hell out of the exhausted three bank guys, so much that they could not even talk. He never heard from them again.

Er.. didn't the bank guys have any cellphone to inform others that they were being locked up by so and so customer at so and so address?

[SirAlec]

I have no idea about that. But the guy that i am talking about is equally hot headed and has a reputation in Ahmedabad. They didn't knew that.

[Joy]

B&T, any more updates? Would love to hear the ultimate solutions. Sorry, I missed this thread.

Not quoting anybody but the fact regarding bounced cheque is that I am fighting a case of bounced cheque (that too notarised when their cheque bounced twice) for the last three years without any solutions. Now, I regret that why I, ever lodged a case at all? I have already spent around 20k in the case. God knows, might even have to spend more than the amount of 50k (original amount). God help us.

[sumannandy]

Guys,

I would really appreciate your help on this matter. Today we received a notice from HSBC at my wife's parental house for a card that she never had. The notice is issued from court asking her to appear in the court next week.

Please let us know what would be the recommended course of action. Is it absolutely necessary to appear before court? What are the alternate options? Also, is it necessary to hire a lawyer or we could handle it ourselves.

If it is necessary to hire a lawyer, I would appreciate it if somebody could share the contact details of a good lawyer in bangalore.

Thanks in advance.

[deky]

If the court sends a notice and you or your lawyer does not appear before the court, it will be considered as a contempt of court and a non-bailable warrant ( I think after 2 such contempts) can be issued against you.

If you or your wife have not ever ever taken a card from HSBC it looks like a case of mistaken identity. Why dont you try to sort it out first with the HSBC branch. Has the bank ever sent you any notices before this?

Still I think you or your lawyer will have to appear before the court at least once so that you can prove that an out of court settlement has been reached.

Good luck

[sumannandy]

Thanks for the reply. We never received any notice, but then we were not in India for the last couple of years. We did not receive anything to her parental house for sure.

We will contact HSBC today or tomorrow. Is it necessary to hire a lawyer? If yes, I would appreciate it if I could get the contacts of any good lawyers.

[aargee]

Deky is very much right on contempt of court & you should avoid it.
IMO, talk with HSBC and/or HSBC ombudsman; ask them the proofs. There're chances that you'd a HSBC card in the past & forgot to close.

[sumannandy]

Thank you for the advice. We will appear before the court.

My wife just spoke to them. She cannot remember for sure but 99% she never had any card from HSBC. However, all details like address etc. are matching.

According to their records there was a purchase on the card on the day she was getting married.

Obviously, this is not possible at all. Looks like somebody might have forged her details may be?

Where do I get the number for HSBC Ombuds?

[khoj]

Originally Posted by sumannandy

Thanks for the reply. We never received any notice, but then we were not in India for the last couple of years. We did not receive anything to her parental house for sure.

We will contact HSBC today or tomorrow. Is it necessary to hire a lawyer? If yes, I would appreciate it if I could get the contacts of any good lawyers.

Check with the clerk of the court if this is indeed an order by the court or a official looking notice from HSBC's lawyers. Court will send an order to appear.

You can appear before the court yourself and appraise them of the situation and request the court to
1. Drop the charges.
If that does not work out, request the judge for
2. Additional time to appoint a lawyer.
3. Ask the court to instruct HSBC to give you a copy of their petition / charges and share the evidence so you/your future lawyer can study the
same and respond accordingly.

You should typically get 4 to 8 weeks to respond.
Use this time to work with HSBC to sort out the confusion and if the result is positive at the next hearing ensure that HSBC informs the courts accordingly.

If it does not work out find a good lawyer who specializes in financial/economic crimes and at the next date he can take over. Typically on his first appearance the lawyer will seek more time to prepare and 99% it will be granted, so take your time in finding a lawyer whom you can trust.

In a nutshell once you have kept the court's honour by responding to their order to appear you will typically get a couple of months to organize your self.

[nishantgandhi]

Sad. Very sad.

Check this link for Grievance Redressal

Grievance Redressal | HSBC Bank India

[aargee]

Gandhi's link is what I was about to recommend, but take the Level 3 process. Just skip the 1st & 2nd level for now. Try to avoid the court as much as possible. All you need is a lawyer who's favourable to you; finish off these disputes by mediating with the trustable lawyer & HSBC.

[setuniket]

Adding to the aargee's post, In the meantime the matter comes up before the court, Do not neglect/abstain from the hearing. Inform the court about the mediation/out of court part.

[devarshi84]

Is this a first of the notices you received or have they sent you reminders for bills before?

[Wheeliej]

Originally Posted by himanshugoswami

there is no way any notice can be served on you or a non bailable warrant issued if you are just a reference.

in case a notice is served, just make a copy of that and file it with the banking ombudsman

if you are harassed by the bank, you can file an FIR with the cops. if you need any specific legal info, feel free to PM me.

EDIT: just saw your post:

couple of things:

1. section 138 (negotiable Instruments Act) is applicable ONLY for bounced cheques.
2. In case of a legal proceeding, it is a private complaint and NOT an FIR and so the police cannot come to arrest anyone- only if the person named in the complaint does not repeatedly attend the court proceedings, and the court issues arrest warrants, can the police come into the picture.

so chill, they are just bluffing.

ditto; was glad to see himanshu's post. dont worry, as a reference they cannot do anything.

OT - looks like even giving a reference (which most times they force out of someone) is getting to be a nuisance. i recall i walked out of Croma a few months ago after finalising purchase of a LCD tv just because the bajaj finance guy asked for references which i refused to give.

seems to me that not only should I be refusing to give references to these guys, but also rejecting reference requests from friends. Am going to be even more unpopular now. :(. sigh

[sumannandy]

Thank you all. I really appreciate it.

This is the first time we received the notice. We did not receive any bill or anything. I am not sure if the card belongs to her at all. There is purchase on the day she was getting married.

My wife called HSBC. All details matched except the address.

I would really appreciate it if I could get the contact details of any good lawyer.

Thanks.