The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Money walks, and walks fast

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 27, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Money walks, and walks fast

WITH PRIVATISATION being the mantra of the day, transparency appears to be the victim, with private firms parting with information, that too with much difficulty, only when you ask for it.

A friend has transactions with a leading private sector bank, which has to its credit several firsts with regard to the introduction of facilities to customers, including the ATM network and net banking.

On one not-so-fine evening, when the gentleman urgently needed money, he withdrew it from the ATM of another private bank situated very close to his office.

Later, when he checked his account balance on the internet, a nasty surprise awaited him: he had been levied a service charge of Rs. 67 for the just-concluded transaction. Taken aback, he wrote to the customer service centre of the bank, pointing out that he had been forced to use another ATM as his bank's ATMs were not exactly situated cheek-by-jowl in the city.

The bank promptly replied the next day that it had a tie-up with 17 banks and that its customers would be levied a service charge of Rs. 10 in addition to a 12.24 per cent service tax for the balance inquiry and Rs. 20 plus a 12.24 per cent service tax for cash withdrawal. If a customer uses any other bank's ATM, he would have to pay Rs. 25 plus the service tax for balance inquiry and Rs. 60 plus the service tax for cash withdrawal.

However, this information had been kept under wraps until the customer specifically wrote to the bank. Neither the bank's website nor its account statements had made mention about the exorbitant service charges.

It is a different matter that several other banks allow their customers to utilise others' ATMs free of any service charge.

Anil Kumar Sastry

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