Quote:
Originally Posted by ddriver My question is what i can do now as all the routes are closed i guess except the consumer court.
Please let me know what else i have left to do to recover my money. |
Been following for your travails, and was sure that this was bound to happen - unavoidable.
IMHO, you are mixing two issues into one -
(a) You lost money from your account;
(b) The bank was aware of such incidences!!
Why I am specifying the above is, we have to start at the beginning -
1. The moment you have applied for a net banking id, you have bound yourself with the terms and conditions imposed by the Bank. How many of you have a copy of the applications and the terms & conditions with you?
In your case, the terms and conditions are here -
https://netbanking.netpnb.com/web/helpfile/Terms.htm
2. Every Bank has to put in place a security policy / guideline for net banking. This is broadly as per the standards set out by RBI.
3. The moment you notice something wrong in your account, you MUST bring it to the attention of the BANK in WRITING. Have you done so? Do you have a copy acknowledged by the BANK? Your complaint should be specific about "unauthorised debit / withdrawal from your account" - without getting into the part about the person who is alleged to have stolen the money, the manager being aware, freezing of account etc.
A note here -
don't get into investigation part - that is BANK's headache. As a customer - you have LOST your money, and if it was BANK's fault, they have to reimburse it to you.
4. Having submitted the complaint, you have to wait a reasonable period for the bank to study it and come out with a solution.
5. In your case, thankfully, the reply received from Customer Care Centre acknowledges your complaint.
6. This letter is helpful on these counts (a) the Bank is investigating the issue - indirect admittance that there was something wrong and your complaint had merits; and (b) they have advised you to file a complaint with the Cyber Crime Cell - in which case, you can name them in your complaint and they will be forced to hand over whatever information they have.
7. Now what you have to do is (a) write back to them saying that you are not satisfied with their reply. This is the time to bring in the fact that the Bank was already aware of such phishing attacks, but had been complacent. Mark a copy of this to the concerned dept whose address has been given by them.
AND ALSO to (1) the head office of PNB - let us say to General Manager, IT Dept; (2) to the customer service cell of public sector bank of your area. For each area / state, there is a designated PSB which will co-ordinate the customer complaints pertaining to any member Bank. Find out which Bank is the co-ordinator for your city. (Remember - there is no point threatening or aggravating the issue).
8. Send these complaints by registered post and obtain confirmation.
9. Wait for some more time - a couple of weeks and then send a reminder. Remind them that the issue is now ___ months old and taking an inordinately long time to get resolved. The loss of money is causing financial distress and you would like the matter to be settled in maximum time of one month etc. Keep a record of all the correspondence.
10. If the problem is not resolved to your satisfaction, then comes the time to approach the banking ombudsman.
11. You have to write a separate letter to the ombudsman, stating all the above and attaching copies of the correspondence.
A note here - ombudsman deals generally treats complaints like this : (a) deficiency / discrimination in service; (b) where there is a mistake / over charging etc. by the Bank and customer has suffered a loss which has to be made good by the bank.
12. The ombudsman will take up the matter with the bank and give a fair hearing to both the parties concerned and come out with their verdict.
If your problem is not solved, then go ahead with legal / consumer court formalities.
PS - I would advise a little patience. Things take their time to move in a PSB. They will looking for scape goats.