Andhra Pradesh - Tirupati   

`Stealth banking on the rise'

Staff Reporter

Tirupati: `Stealth Banking' is a disturbing trend in contemporary banking that worries none other than the Banking Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman in charge of Andhra Pradesh, Deepali Pant Joshi, has expressed concern over the increasing number of ways the banks choose to hoodwink customers. Some banks announce novel schemes and fail to honour them after some time, thus risking their credibility, was her concern, which she called `Stealth banking'.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Thursday, Ms. Joshi pointed out that credit card-related complaints are on the rise, adding that the outsourcing of the segment to private agents has turned the market hazy and made the grievances soar. "Customers should know how much they are paying for a service. Banks tend to take the customers for granted as `financial literates', but it is for the bankers to ensure transparency," she explained.

Transaction

Ms. Joshi said that technology-related complaints too were on the rise of late, especially those on "double debit" due to ATM malfunction. "A customer may tend to get panicky over this and blame the branch, but fails to understand that the branch has no role in it. In the case of shared ATMs, the issue has to be referred to the central switch in Mumbai to annul the transaction."

The Ombudsman indicated that 2,256 complaints had been resolved last year, most of them with just a postcard mailed to her. Aggrieved customers of rural banks to foreign banks can contact the Ombudsman at RBI , Hyderabad 500 004 for a free, expeditious and impartial redressal, if the concerned bank failed to resolve the issue in a month.

Grievances

Earlier, at a programme organised by Indian Banks Association (IBA), she addressed 37 managers of various banks on redressal of customer grievances. Deputy General Managers, T.Chandrasekhar (State Bank of India), R.Athmaram (Andhra Bank), H.Sivasailam (Indian Bank) and Mathew Joseph, AGM, Andhra Bank (Head office) were among those who took part in the event.

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