Credit card forceful intrest payment

Usually in such offers claiming 0% interest also it is written T*C apply or call ........or acces website....for more details.

The email offering 0% interest needs to be examined carefully.

Did you buy phone thru ICICI bank CC? Or you purchased phone after getting the offer by email from this bank?

It is felt that you swiped the card for buying the phone and later got an offer by email.

It is surprising that how can CCE at CC helpline feign ignorance while the offer is made on CC?

The processing fee was conveyed by email or verbally? When did you giev consent to convert to EMI's, before communication of processing charges? What was the due date of payment of purchase of phone, before the communication of processing charges and date of your consent  for converting to EMI's?

Nothing is free in this world and nothing can be free from a CC company who feel that they have a birth right to collect charges ranging from 42%/pa and to circumvent the process of law and continie to keep hidden charges.

You have been taken for a ride. You have not been able to remain firm and paid the charges and by now your name  would have been included in Bad customers list of bank, defaulters maintained with credit rating agencies/bureau's including CIBIL, Equafax,Experian, and possibly MCNFalso.

You may escalate the matter to Compnay Secretary, MD of the bank, calling upon them to reverse all charges above the amount of the phone to be paid back to you by bank DD only thru redg post only so as to reach you with in next 7 days or you shall be constrained to approach institutions of print and electronic media, police, regulators e.g. RBI/BCSBI/IBA,minstry of finance,NGO's, public/social,legal portals, courts of law etc at thier cost and consequences  . It is felt that it shall be futile to approach Nodal Officer of the bank.

You may post all emails and phone calls and tlelscriptt in chronological order.

Yes you can approach DCDRF.You can lodge a complaint on your own, thru a representative , lawyer specialising in consumer matters and thus you can focus on your line of business while your lawyer shall handle the matter. If you have posted the facts then apparently you have  agood case however you may let your lawyer examine the merits.

Some of the consumer helpline portals have helped many of the aggrieved customers like;

pehredar@network18online.com

https://www.facebook.com/Pehredar

https://ashisha.com/consumer/

www.grahakseva.com/

Hi,

Thanks a lot for taking time and looking into my issue. Please find my answers for your questions.

1. Usually in such offers claiming 0% interest also it is written T*C apply or call ........or acces website....for more details.

The email offering 0% interest needs to be examined carefully........ I did read that email and it said that one time file charges will be charged. I had informed this to the ICICI Bank and forwarded them the email as well.

2. Did you buy phone thru ICICI bank CC? Or you purchased phone after getting the offer by email from this bank?...... I purchased the phone through CC and did it before I got the reply. I purchased the phone on 2nd Jan and got email on 3rd Jan. So, it happened quickly before I could talk to them and get my purchase converted into EMI.

3. It is surprising that how can CCE at CC helpline feign ignorance while the offer is made on CC?...... You are right. This is what I told the customer care and said that they should know when these types of offer are sent so that the customers do not have to fight for it to prove it. But still, they only agreed to it when I had sent them the promotional email.

4. The processing fee was conveyed by email or verbally? When did you giev consent to convert to EMI's, before communication of processing charges? What was the due date of payment of purchase of phone, before the communication of processing charges and date of your consent  for converting to EMI's?........... The processing fee was communicated to me via email when they agreed to convert it. And from there it all started. They sent me the tenure for which I can get my EMI converted. On asking them the reason for the different fee for different tenure, they said that it is something that cannot be told to the customer. I then told them that I am paying the fee, so I should know. Because I suspected that they are forging by saying 0% intrest and charge the intrest amount in name of processing fee. And ths was agrred by one of their supervisor on the phone to whom I spoke. When I asked him, are you charging the intrest in name of processing fee as it is different for different tenure. He said "In a way Yes".

5. You have been taken for a ride. You have not been able to remain firm and paid the charges and by now your name  would have been included in Bad customers list of bank, defaulters maintained with credit rating agencies/bureau's including CIBIL, Equafax,Experian, and possibly MCNFalso............. I have only paid them the phone amount and not the intrest charges or any fee as I did not get it converted into EMI as I wanted to know the reason for different % for diffeent tenure and they kept hiding it from me. I have fought regarding this and they calculated the amount with intrest and asked me to pay. I asked them to reverse the charges as it got delayed because of ICICI Bank's delay as they used to reply to my emails after 15- 20 days and thus the intrest kept accumalating. I also escalated this matter to their Ombudsman and he repeated the same thing which ICICI bank has said. I then asked him if he was an ICICI Bank's employee or representative. He said Yes. So, it is very clear that they say that they help us with Ombudsman, but he is their representative only.

The intrest amount what they calculated was 4,400 (around) and I had paid only the purchased amount. Now the intrest is around 6,600.  I will attach the emails by tonight as I have them in my home laptop.

Please advice what to do next as I do not want my CIBIL record to get bad as I am applying for a home loan.

You have posted that:

--“I purchased the phone through CC and did it before I got the reply. I purchased the phone on 2nd Jan and got email on 3rd Jan.”

This implies that they are watching the CC transactions and are making quick offers to the customers.

--“When I asked him, are you charging the intrest in name of processing fee as it is different for different tenure. He said "In a way Yes".

You may demand copy of recording of this phone call at once.

--“On asking them the reason for the different fee for different tenure, they said that it is something that cannot be told to the customer.”

This is against the spirit and essence of RBI instructions which directs to be transparent and upfront with customers.

--“I also escalated this matter to their Ombudsman and he repeated the same thing which ICICI bank has said. I then asked him if he was an ICICI Bank's employee or representative. He said Yes”

The bank has installed Ombudsman desk and usually it follows the docs and data provided by bank.

It is also seen that Bo also goes by docs and data.

DCDRF may be a better choice.

You may try by escalating to Nodal officer and o/o Chairman for relief.

If no relief is granted you may approach your lawyer.

You can access some of the decided cases at :

Confonet

confonet.nic.in/

By now bank might have added your name in bad customers list and CIBIL etc.

Did you receive any notice? Bank has to supply notice before reporting the customer as a defaulter. Bank may claim later a notice was sent by ordinary post. You may ask the bank in writing if it has reported you as a defaulter and bad customer.

Customer can obtain Credit report from bank against a nominal charge.

You may find the attachments useful.

You may also cancell your SB a/c if any with bank as bank may excercise lien. Although lien should not be marked on FD however bank are notorious to flout the norms and burden the customer with litigations.

Hello Sir,

I am unable to attach the email conversation in this thread. Please give me your email address and I will forward the complete emails on that. My email address is Rahul.Mehta84@outlook.com.

Once again, I am really thankful that you are taking out your valuable time to help me out.

Please post the email in this thread only. Thus you shall have the benfit of getting the advise from many of the learned experts/members.You may use other options e.g. cut and paste option, email in word file.