Credit card fraud: Court asks police to file FIR against ICICI Bank CEO-IBN
Lucknow: A local court has directed the police to lodge an FIR against ICICI Bank CEO Chanda Kochhar and head of card operations Vinay Valse in connection with allegations of cheating and fraud over online shopping through credit card.
Chief Judicial Magistrate, Lucknow, Sunil Kumar pronounced the order on Thursday on a complaint filed by an ICICI Bank credit card holder Imran Ahmed, seeking direction for lodging an FIR and proper investigation in the matter.
The complainant said that on May 28 he had received three messages between 9.53 pm and 10.01 pm on his mobile phone about online shopping and the fourth message informed him that shopping worth around Rs. 79,000 has been done through his credit card in Turkey.
The complainant said that when he contacted bank officials in this regard he was not provided any information after which he blocked his card and informed the police, which also took no action.
He said that after all his efforts failed, he moved an application in the court against Kochhar and Valse. The CJM directed the Station House Officer of Hazratganj police station to lodge an FIR and investigate the matter. Harassed by bank? Ombudsman can provide relief-Times of India
PATNA: If you are having troubles sorting out issues with your bank regarding ATM transactions, charges without notice, notes and coins etc, do not feel lost as the bankers' bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), is there for ensuring redressal of your grievance free of cost. With its Office of Banking Ombudsman (OBO) scheme, the RBI assures 100% redressal of the customers' grievances and that too within one month of lodging of complaint.
Addressing the annual press conference on Friday, RBI Banking Ombudsman (Bihar and Jharkhand) Patric Barla and RBI's Patna AGM Gyaneshwar Pathak said there are 27 grounds on which the customers can file complaints. These include issues related to deposit accounts, clearance of cheques and drafts, remittances, ATM, debit or credit cards and loans and advances. However, corruption-related matters and matters under litigation are not handled by the OBO.
"The customer himself or through his representative, other than his advocate, can write letter or e-mail to the OBO or can file the complaint online," said Barla. However, before moving the OBO, it is necessary for a customer to first submit a written representation to the bank concerned. If the complaint is rejected or no reply is received from the bank within one month from the date of representation or the reply is not satisfactory, s/he may lodge a complaint with the Banking Ombudsman. "One should write to us within one year of writing to the bank concerned," said Pathak.
"The contact number of the OBO is displayed on a board in every bank," Pathak told TOI. The complaint in writing should be signed by the complainant or his authorized representative and should have the name and address of the complainant. "If a complaint is made online, the complainant should write his/her contact number and e-mail id," he said.
The complaint should also have the name and address of the branch or office of the bank against which the complaint is made, the facts giving rise to the complaint, the nature and extent of the loss caused to the complainant and the relief sought.
The Banking Ombudsman Scheme was introduced by the RBI in 1995 as an alternative, expeditious and inexpensive forum to resolve complaints relating to deficiencies in banking services. It covers all commercial, regional rural and scheduled primary cooperative banks.
PAC likely to order CAG probe of alleged bank frauds -Hindu Business Line-New Delhi, August 21:
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) is likely to order the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to probe the fraudulent practices reported in various public sector banks. These scams allegedly run into crores of rupees.
The first meeting of the PAC of the 16th Lok Sabha will take a final call on the issue, newly-appointed PAC Chairman KV Thomas told BusinessLine after a meeting with CAG Shashi Kant Sharma and other senior CAG officials. The CAG also sits in at the PAC’s meetings.
The CAG is supposed to be the “friend, philosopher and guide” of the PAC and it can ask the CAG to audit important issues in the public domain. “There a number of media reports on bank frauds. A CAG audit can reveal the truth,” Thomas said.
Thomas, who did not name a specific case, said the rising number of cases of bank frauds was a matter of concern. “Let the committee meet next week. The members will sit together and will take a final call on the matter,” he added.
Thomas’ statement comes at a time when the Finance Ministry has ordered a forensic audit of Dena Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce after some of their Mumbai-based branches allegedly misappropriated funds worth ₹437 crore, mobilised through fixed deposits.
45 reports pending
Thomas said 45 CAG reports were pending with the PAC. “We will prioritise these reports and complete work on them in a timely manner,” he added.
CAG reports on the Commonwealth Games, natural gas and coal block allocations and the public-private partnership project at the Mumbai airport are pending with the PAC. Some of these reports have questioned the actions of the previous UPA Government, in which Thomas was a Minister.
When asked about the bad precedent set by the Congress members in the past of not allowing the tabling of the PAC report on the 2G spectrum allocation scam, Thomas said he would seek the co-operation of all members on all reports.
During the UPA’s regime, veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi was Thomas’s predecessor in the PAC. The BJP now has a comfortable majority in the 22-member panel, while the Congress has just three members, including Thomas.
Link Hindu Business LIne
Refund Rs 49,000 cr to investors: Sebi to PACL-Business Standard 23rd August 2014
Amount more than twice the size of Sahara's; collective investment scheme operator has 3 months to return money and wind up
Saying PACL Ltd ran a collective investment scheme, mobilising about Rs 50,000 crore, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has asked the company to refund investors and wind up operations.
This is the biggest crackdown on a large-scale illicit money-pooling scheme. At Rs 49,100 crore, the amount concerned is twice that collected by the Sahara group, which is said to have mobilised Rs 24,000 crore.
Speaking to television channels, PACL officials said the company planned to move the Securities Appellate Tribunal against the Sebi order. They added the interests of investors would not be jeopardised.
The refund is to take place within three months, with a winding-up and repayment report to be submitted to Sebi within another 15 days, according to a 92-page order by Sebi whole-time member Prashant Saran.
The order said the company had mobilised Rs 44,736 crore till March 31, 2012, and another Rs 4,364.78 crore between February 26, 2013, and June 15 this year. “The total amount mobilised comes to a whopping Rs 49,100 crore. This figure could have been even more if PACL would have provided the details of the funds mobilised during the period between April 1, 2012, and February 25, 2013,” it said.
In February this year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case against the promoters of PACL and its sister firm PGF Ltd. This followed the agency conducting an inquiry, as directed by the Supreme Court, into allegations of collection of huge deposits from the public. “The inquiry resulted in a case against them and their associates for criminal conspiracy and cheating,” a CBI spokesperson was quoted as saying at that time.
The company claimed it was in the business of purchasing and developing land, adding the developed land was transferred to investors, who could sell it for gains. The company is said to have paid commission of Rs 7,893.8 crore up to March 2012. It had 58.5 million customers, more than twice the 22 million demat accounts in the entire country. Of these, the company was yet to allot land to 46.3 million investors.
“It is difficult to believe a person in Uttar Pradesh will purchase 100-150 yards of agricultural land 2,000 km away. The lack of maintenance of proper records/data is a clear indication the activities of PACL are in the nature of a Ponzi scheme,” the court said. Its order also noted out of a sample of 500 randomly selected customers, not a single one had received land, even after eight years. The company operated through a network of 250 associate companies to circumvent state laws on land ownership, the order said.
“PACL Ltd and its promoters and directors, including Tarlochan Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Subrata Bhattacharya, shall wind up all the existing collective investment schemes of the company and refund the monies collected under its schemes with returns due to its investors, according to the terms of offer, within a period of three months,” it said. The company also has to give details of the trail of funds claimed to be refunded, the bank account statements indicating the refunds and acknowledgement receipts from the investors.
TRACING THE PATH
Mar 4, 1998: Sebi first writes to PACL about its schemes
Mar 23, 1998: PACL replies to the Sebi order, challenges its jurisdiction
May 26, 1999: Delhi High Court directs Sebi to appoint auditors for ascertaining the genuineness of PACL’s transactions
Feb 22, 2000: Report highlights deficiencies/ discrepancies
Nov 16, 2000: Delhi High Court appoints K Swamidurai to physically verify genuineness of transactions
Jun 24, 2002: Sebi passes order, saying PACL schemes fall under CIS
Nov 28, 2003: High court of judicature for Rajasthan, Jaipur, says PACL schemes not CIS
Feb 26, 2013: Supreme Court sets aside high court order
Aug 22, 2014: Sebi passes order asking company to refund Rs 49,100 crore, with promised returns
Link Business Standard
RBI issues draft charter of customer rights
Charter spells out rights of customer and also responsibilities of financial service provider
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday issued the draft of a charter comprising five basic customer rights. Feedback has been invited by September 22.
These cover a right to fair treatment, transparency, suitability, privacy, grievance redress and compensation.
The draft Charter of Customer Rights to deal with entities regulated by the Reserve Bank, has been framed based on global best practices in this regard, it said, as also discussion and interaction with various stakeholders. The Charter spells out the rights of the customer and also the responsibilities of the financial service provider (FSP).
In the right to fair treatment, RBI has said both the customer and the FSP have a right to be treated with courtesy. "The customer should not be unfairly discriminated against on grounds such as gender, age, religion, caste and physical ability when offering and delivering financial products," it said.
However, the FSP can have certain products specifically designed for members of a target market group or may use defensible, commercially acceptable economic rationale for discriminating between customers. The right to transparency, fair and honest dealing entails that the FSP make every effort to ensure the contracts or agreements it frames are transparent, easily understood by and well communicated to a lay citizen. RBI said the product’s price, associated risks, customer responsibilities and the terms and conditions that govern use over the life cycle should be clearly disclosed.
The customer is not to be subject to unfair business or marketing practices, coercive contractual terms or misleading representations. “Over the course of their relationship, the FSP cannot threaten the customer with physical harm, exert undue influence or engage in blatant harassment,” said RBI.
In its first bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement (2014 - 15) announced on April 1, RBI had said consumer protection was an integral aspect of financial inclusion. It had proposed to frame comprehensive consumer protection regulations, based on domestic experience and global best practices. This draft charter is a sequel.
On the right to suitability, RBI said the products offered should be appropriate to customer need and based on an assessment of the customer’s financial circumstances and understanding.
All customers will also have a right to privacy. Personal information should be kept confidential, unless they have offered specific consent to the FSP or such information is required to be provided under the law or for a mandated business purpose (for example, to credit information companies). \"The customer should be informed upfront about likely mandated business purposes. Customers have the right to protection from all kinds of communications, electronic or otherwise, which infringe upon their privacy,\" the central bank said.
There is also a right to grievance redress and compensation. The customer has a right to hold the FSP accountable for the products offered and to have a clear and easy way to have any valid grievances redressed.
The regulator said the provider should also facilitate the redress of grievances stemming from sale of third-party products. The FSP must communicate its policy for compensating mistakes, lapses in conduct, as well as non-performance or delays in performance, whether caused by the provider or otherwise.
Right to Fair Treatment: No discrimination on basis of gender, age, religion, caste and physical ability
Right to Transparency, Fair and Honest Dealing: Contracts or agreements between financial service provider and customer should be transparent and easy to understand
Right to Suitability: Products offered should be appropriate to the needs of the customer
Right to Privacy: Customers' personal information to be kept confidential. No unwarranted communication, electronic or otherwise, to be sent
Right to Grievance Redress and Compensation: Financial services provider accountable for products offered (including third party products). Provider to facilitate easy grievance redressal
http://www.business-standard.com/article/finance/rbi-brings-out-draft-charter-of-customer-rights-114082201036_1.html