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Ajaykumar   18 December 2015

Harassment by icici recovery agents

Hi, I need help and advise.

The story is my dad holded an ICICI credit card 10 years back and he had an outstanding amount of 70,000 (out of which 30,000 is interest). Due to some reason this was unsettled.

Lately me and my wife started getting calls from ICICI recovery agents asking us to clear the dues. 

They started harassing my wife and started calling her friends saying that my wife owe money to the bank and she is not paying it. They repeatedly called by wife office number (around 10-12 calls in a day) and started to humiliate her. They even were insisting to speak to her supervisors. The intention was clear -  to humiliate her and make us do the payment. 

I have reported this to the customer care of ICICI however din't got any positive response. Having no other option we have to register a police complaint.

Now i understand that if there is any outstanding amount to paid to the bank it needs to be settled, however i am not going to budge to their harassment. 

My wife faced humiliation and repeated calls made the entire staff insecure. They even spoke rudely with the other office staff.

Now, i want to take them legally. I need answers for the harassment before any settlement with them.

How do i proceed with this? what are my options?

 

 

 

 

 



Learning

 18 Replies

siddhartha sinha   18 December 2015

How do they get hold of your wifes phond number and office number? Any guesses.

Kumar Doab (FIN)     18 December 2015

You and your wife did not hold any CC of M/s ICICI Bank.

You could have and should have recorded all calls and mainatined call log.

The Bank has to maiantain the list of agencies with phone numbers at their website.

The Manager of M/s ICICI bank, Local BM,MD,Chairman could have made a party.

You have the option to pursue police complaint and lodge complaint with RBI, BCSBI,IBA, and file suit for damages, defamation etc...............

 

There are many threads on M/s ICICI Bank at LCI alone that you can pursue..................at:

 

https://www.lawyersclubindia.com/search_results_custom.asp?dir=forum&q=harassment+by+icici+bank+recovery+agents&B1=GO#.VnQiNV5-jMo

 

e.g:

 

https://www.lawyersclubindia.com/forum/Harrasment-by-icici-banks-recovery-agents-76271.asp
 

 

Meet a lawyer specializing in such and criminal cases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

RAJKUMAR SHA   19 December 2015

u should lodge a complain to the Banking ombadsman. u can also file a complain inline. just type ...".Complain to the banking ombudsmwn..." and proceed.

RAJKUMAR SHA   19 December 2015

u should lodge a complain to the Banking ombadsman. u can also file a complain inline. just type ...".Complain to the banking ombudsmwn..." and proceed.

RAJKUMAR SHA   19 December 2015

u should lodge a complain to the Banking ombadsman. u can also file a complain inline. just type ...".Complain to the banking ombudsmwn..." and proceed.

RAJKUMAR SHA   19 December 2015

u should lodge a complain to the Banking ombadsman. u can also file a complain inline. just type ...".Complain to the banking ombudsmwn..." and proceed.

RAJKUMAR SHA   19 December 2015

Step 1: Complain to your bank According to Adhil Shetty, CEO, Bankbazaar.com, nearly all banks have a grievance cell. "So a customer can visit the bank and meet the officials to sort out the issue," he says. Banks have a dedicated toll-free customer care number, which you can use to lodge your grievance and get a complaint ID. "You can also register a complaint on the bank's website," he adds. KS Harikumar, head, operations, Federal Bank, explains that e-mails can also be sent to the service quality department in public-sector banks. "This is an exclusive unit dealing with customer grievances and headed by an executive of the rank of general manager. The complaints posted directly on the bank's website are also resolved by this department," he says. Harikumar adds that some banks have begun or are in the process of starting a real-time monitoring system for the complaints received centrally through the customer relationship management (CRM), which is set up in all branches. Once the complaint is lodged, the customer needs to wait for 30 days for the bank to offer a solution or give a suitable reply. Step 2: Approach the banking ombudsman If your bank does not address your complaint within a month, you can approach the banking ombudsman. This is a senior official appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints against deficiency in banking services, as per its scheme introduced in 1995. All scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks and scheduled primary cooperative banks are covered under the scheme. So far, there are 15 ombudsmen, whose offices are located mostly in state capitals. Their addresses and contact details are available on the RBI website. The ombudsman tries to effect a legally binding settlement between both the parties within a month. However, if a settlement is not possible, it will pass an award after allowing both the parties to present their cases to him. Types of grievances When the scheme was introduced, it addressed complaints such as non-payment or delayed payment of cheques and drafts, and services such as remittances. However, in the ensuing years, the scope has widened to include grievances related to plastic money, unfair banking practices, levying of service charges without prior intimation, transactions on the Internet banking platform, and the like. Deficiency in service with respect to loans and advances, say, delays in sanctioning/disbursing loans and non-acceptance of loan applications without a valid explanation, are also valid grounds for complaint. For a complete list of the types of complaints you can take up under this scheme, visit rbi.org.in/scriptts/FAQView.aspx?Id=24. Lodging a complaint You have to file the complaint at the office of the ombudsman under whose jurisdiction your bank branch is located. The grievances relating to credit cards and other types of services with centralised operations are to be filed with the ombudsman in whose territorial jurisdiction the billing address of the customer is located. You can put it down on a plain paper, send an e-mail, or fill the complaint form on the RBI website. There are no charges for filing a complaint. Grounds for rejection The ombudsman can reject a customer's complaint if he has not approached his bank for grievance redressal first, or if the subject is pending for disposal, or has already been dealt with at any other forum, such as a court of law or consumer court. Also, the complaint will not be considered if more than one year has passed since the customer has heard from the bank, or 13 months since the date of representation to the bank. Compensation limit The scheme caps the amount of compensation that can be doled out to Rs 10 lakh or actual loss suffered, whichever is lower. The ombudsman may choose to award the compensation, not exceeding Rs 1 lakh, to the complainant for mental agony and harassment. However, so far, this has been limited to complaints regarding credit card operations.

RAJKUMAR SHA   19 December 2015

Legal route If you are not happy with the settlement offered by the ombudsman, you can file an appeal before the appellate authority within 30 days. The appellate authority in this case is the deputy governor of the RBI. Alternatively, you can approach consumer redressal forums, which take up bank-related complaints, or even the courts. but I tell u 1 thing Banking Ombadsman is their Baap. u can also threat to complain to the Banking Ombudsman. All d best..!!

siddhartha sinha   19 December 2015

Banking ombudsman is hopelessly in favour of banks all the time.This is not a grounds of complaints to ombudsman.

Ajaykumar   19 December 2015

Firstly thank you all for your responses. You people are brilliant! @ siddhartha sinha:I have no clue from where they got my wife's personal and office number. They also contacted my wife's friend too. @ kumar Doab: Yes, i do have the call records. As witness, her office college who picked the phone & her friend who received the call. I will get a written letter from office too detailing what had happened that day. Will these proof be sufficient to file a suit for defamation? There is a due which my dad owe to the bank. Whom do we have to approach to do the settlement? I certainly don’t want to do the settlement through the agency. My dad is retired and as his son I believe it is binding on me too to pay it?

siddhartha sinha   19 December 2015

Dear Author. If you end up dragging them to court please do a favour to others like you. Bring this fact to the notice of the court. These agents have probably resorted to bribing telecom executives to give phone number and address based on imei or call records. There is no other way for them to get your wifes numbers. Kindly request the court for an inquiry into this matter.

Kumar Doab (FIN)     19 December 2015

They are silently watching social media e.g. facebook, Whatsapp etc and collect the details.........

It is believed that you are Hindu.If yes you are no liability towards debt of your father, not even pious liablity.

The debt also seems to be hopelessly time barred.

 

YOu may sue the egancy,and bank.

 

Consult an able counsel.

 

RAJKUMAR SHA   20 December 2015

the ground is @ unfair banking practice & suffering mental agony.. if no suit is pending to the court of law or any other forum. if pending in any othr forum more than 30 dys othr than tge court of law ..u can go to the Bankibg Ombadsman...

RAJKUMAR SHA   20 December 2015

the ground is unfair banking practices & mental agony...

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