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Ever thought that you could get paid by an ATM?
Well, that is now a distinct possibility, thanks to RBI's decision. If an ATM-related complaint isn't redressed within seven days, it can potentially earn you Rs 100 a day.
The Reserve Bank of India has reduced the mandatory time for resolving complaints related to ATM transactions to a week from the earlier 12 days, starting July 1.
Complaints include wrong debits, non-receipt of cash and receipt of a lesser amount than specified in a withdrawal.
It is important that one should immediately register his/her complaint with the bank, as the mandatory compensation after seven days is not applicable if the complaint is not brought to the notice of the bank within 30 days.
Interestingly, many banks have not displayed the new rule at their ATMs yet. ICICI Bank, however, is sending the information along with quarterly account statements to its customers.
When contacted, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of a leading public sector bank said the reason for the growing number of problems at ATMs was the technical glitches related to ‘other banks', as customers are now using the ATMs of all banks.
“The redressal of these complaints is not in our hands and can't be done internally,” he said.
Banks may now have to incur a ‘significant' cost and honour a payment of Rs 100 a day after seven days, in case the complaint is not resolved. As of now, the average period for correcting a wrong transaction in an ATM varies from 10 to 20 days, according to sources.
GROWING COMPLAINTS
These days, the number of complaints related to ATM transactions is considerably ‘high' in all banks.
In State Bank of India, for instance, ATM complaints make up 20-30 per cent of total complaints being received through its message-based complaint redressal system, said a senior official.
RBI too had noted this general increase.
Out of 79,266 complaints received by banking ombudsmen in 2009-10, 24 per cent were related to ATM/debit cards and credit cards.
As the number of credit cards had come down during the last one year, 2010-11 might have seen a higher number of complaints on ATM/debit card transactions, feel experts.
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