Signature forgery by leading private bank

Sir, Seek compensation for harassment caused to you by the bank .... And its a serious matter in way that it could have affected you in a negative way as well ....so write a letter to RBI and file a consumer case against the bank and its DSA .... Warm Regards Kapil Chandna Adv 9899011450

Private Bank. hmm... OKAY. Nothing changes just because its a private bank. They too have to abide by the rules.

 

Have you contacted their top management, because the help lines provided are useless they only transfer line pillar to post. I suggest you to address a detailed letter to the Chairman of the Private Bank with copies of the document which you believe to have been forged. Send such letter by Indian Post (not by courier) with Registered Post Acknowledgement due.Preserve the copy of the letter, enclosures and also the receipt given by Post Office and note to keep the acknowledgement when it is received. If no reply or proper reply is  received within a reasonable time,  of say one month, send copies of entire correspondence to Banking Ombudsman C/O your nearest Regional Office of Reserve Bank of India. Banking Ombudsman shall look into the matte and resolve the issue to your satisfaction.

 

This will force the Bank to give you correct reply and they shall be henceforth careful atleast with you.

Thanks Sivaramaprasad Sir and Kapil Sir. This issue is with Axis Bank. As you have suggested, i had already escalated to AXIS Bank MD and Chairman and no use. Top officials are also insensitive. I sent an email with all the proof. 

 

Now i have lodged a complaint with RBI BO and BO had forwarded to AXIS Bank. Earlier in 2013, there was one fraud happened in AXIS Bank affecting all customers across India and AXIS Bank denied to accept it even when i had a proof. Then i escalated to RBI BO, they investigated for 4 months and awarded only the loss incurred to me without even the interest. RBI BO had allows them to continue to enjoy the money swindled from the customers. RBI BO just issued a feed back for the fraud. So i lost the faith in RBI BO as i had struggled a lot in explaining the fraud in AXIS Bank.

 

Will the bank accept its involvement in forgery and issue a apology letter?. 

 

Please guide me how i can proceed further if the AXIS bank does not provide and apology letter and compensate me for the mental agony 

You can lodge criminal complaint along with copy of form with forged signature and other related documents against bank manager & bank through it's authorised agent. As the offence of Forgery has been committed as per facts mentioned by you. Provided you are sure you had not signed that document/form. This will surely make the bank to come to your rescue.

Sir, bank themselves given me enough evidences unknowingly to prove that they are guilty. They tried all their tricks of convincing me, emotional blackmail, etc. Now they do not have a defense. If they come for a discussion, how much compensation can i ask for?

Basically he forgery is reported to have been committed by the Direct Sales Agent.  You should bear it in mind that the agent are not outsourced on any agreement.  They are mere agents hence their fraudulent acts with the customers are not binding on the bank legally.  If such fraud or forgery are brought to the notice of the bank, they will take action against the said agent and shall not process the act any further due to its nature i.e., fraud or forgery.  This is legal position. There is nothing to blame the bank authorities nor they have reportedly committed any fraudulent act on you that you are aggrieved over the bank to this extent.  Your approach to RBI or court also may not fetch you any relief sought against the bank.

The bank authorities are right in mentioning that  "Bank had mentioned that the DSA is no where related to them and the bank is not responsible for actions of the DSA. Bank denied to accept its involvement and responsibility and not even ready to apologise."   Further you may understand the legal position of the bank that the bank has not outsourced this activity to any agency, they are dealing with the issue themselves.  The DSA is not a paid employee, he works for commission through such dealings. 

Therefore the grievances directed by you against the bank may not hold ground to fix responsibility on them and you may fight a losing battle, instead, look for an amicable settlement.

Please note that the above is a general opinion based on the information provided by you, further details or advises can be rendered by an expertise advocate on being apprised of actual situation  as well as perusing all the relevant papers in this regard.

Dear T Kalaiselvan Sir,

Thanks a lot for your response. Sir, i read the following guideline in RBI website. 

"outsourcing of any activity by the bank does not diminish its obligations, and those of its Board and senior management, who have the ultimate responsibility for the outsourced activity. Banks have been advised to take steps to ensure that the service provider employs the same high standard of care in performing the services as would be employed by the banks, if the activities were conducted within the banks and not outsourced."

Source: https://www.rbi.org.in/scriptts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=9597&Mode=0

AXIS bank is claiming that it was committed by the DSA as a easy scapegoat. And moreover DSA has no reason to commit this forgery as they are not the beneficiary of this forgery.

Please advice me whether the above guideline from RBI, holds good legally in my complaint.

Dear Kingmaidas

 

I agree with you. If a person or organisation acts in a way to make others to belive so and so is acting on their behalf or knowingly keeps mum when somebody is acting on thier behalf such person or organisation shall be deemed to be the Principal to the person whom they allowed others to believe as their Agent. .  The Principal cannot absolve itself saying that the act was not committed by them.,

 

OK coming to the point, who benefitted from the alleged forgery.  Let that be clear so that from than angle the case can be built.

I agree to the feeling you have vented out.  However see in your post where you have mentioned about RBI's guideline which reads :

"outsourcing of any activity by the bank does not diminish its obligations, and those of its Board and senior management, who have the ultimate responsibility for the outsourced activity. Banks have been advised to take steps to ensure that the service provider employs the same high standard of care in performing the services as would be employed by the banks, if the activities were conducted within the banks and not outsourced."

From the above contents there is no  mention  anywhere that the DSA are outsourced agency or their acts are covered in the above guidelines.  The DSA out of curiosity to cover up the short fall might have forged your signature in the insurance form in order to complete the last leg formality of the loan disbursement arrangement in order not  to make you wait anymore for this small issue or the bank staff might have arranged the compliance of the necessary formality in view of the urgency as well as your constant enquiry in that regard. 

Though the bank officials are hand in glove with such DSAs on all such matters , when it becomes a legal complication, they will find an easy route to escape the liability.  This is practical and prevails everywhere.  However, it is matter of insurance application done on your behalf which is just a mere formality, so think  about the pros and cons and decide judiciously for pursuing the issue any further.

Well you are the better of your situation to take wise decision suiting  to your own circumstances.

Dear Kalaiselvan Sir,

 

Please find the exact word from the RBI site quoting that the DSA is responsible.

 

"4.1 The outsourcing of any activity by bank does not diminish its obligations, and those of its Board and senior management, who have the ultimate responsibility for the outsourced activity. Banks would therefore be responsible for the actions of their service provider including Direct Sales Agents/ Direct Marketing Agents and recovery agents and the confidentiality of information pertaining to the customers that is available with the service provider. Banks should retain ultimate control of the outsourced activity."

 

Source: https://www.rbi.org.in/commonman/english/scriptts/Notification.aspx?Id=40

 

I have few basic queries when the bank denies its responsibility.

 

1. If the Bank is not responsible for the torts commited by the DSA's, why does the bank avail their service to fulfill their loan sourcing requirements?

 

2. Then why the bank let the DSA's to collect and carry most sensitive customer info / document like payslip, IT returns, pan card copy and address proof when its not ready to accept its responsibility.

 

3. Who would be responsible if these forgeries are lead to identity theft and so on

 

4. The bank dodged me for months when i have an evidence. imagine, there are thousands of forgery victims like me who will not have any evidence and completely rely on bank's investigation process. what would be their condition ?

 

Hi ,I have faced same issue with another bank .. it has been extremely stressful. Can someone help ? We ate based out of Pune