I always stand up for what I believe in and what is right even if it means standing alone...In life standing up for your rights is never easy but it is very important to embark on this Long and difficult path to enforce and protect your individual and consumer rights.We all must be aware of our rights.In exercising our rights are we truly free individuals.

I have won many long customer battles against Banks,Phone Companies, Airlines, Electronics Companies etc. I have devoted time and energy to demand positive resolutions for myself and people around me. I hate it when one is denied what every customer has a right to...and that is when I find it important to address it and complain about it. I know it takes time to escalate matters but somehow I prefer to address it no matter what. Having lived in America for sometime, I give a lot of importance to Individual Rights.

It is my nephew who inspired me to write this blog. He felt the importance of his rights and the need to address this subject in a blog very early in age when he was unhappy with the services of a certain Airline. It was then that he suggested that I should write a blog concerning such matters too.

Everyone has certain rights but we are usually not informed about them or do not exercise them. We have a right to be heard...and we must never forget that. There is One Right for All and None should be discriminated. One has the right to question and a right to information. With growing middle class touch 400 million and consumerism, Indian Companies need to become responsive to Consumer complaints and grievances. Ignoring such complaints could lead to big financial losses for the company on consumer complaints being upheld by Consumer Courts.

In this blog, I would like us to share our knowledge about how best to address our complaints effectively as a customer or consumer. It is also important to inform people about the poor customer services provided by reputed brand names. But I would also like to hi-light the names of companies and brands who have co-operated with customers and given positive responses. Please do share your experiences too.

You do not win every battle in life but you learn lessons from it and hopefully live to win it some day. Through this blog ,I would like to inspire people to stand up for their rights and if needed fight for it but the fight for your rights has to be fair and honest. I aim to create a direction and awareness for people who are not given their due rights as an individual first and then as a consumer. There are always solutions and there are way to reach those solutions or alternatives as customers through proper channels.

Whenever you have been able to get your rights heard, you should generously share that knowledge as how best to achieve that so that others could follow that too. Pay it forward ! We should share knowledge and in doing so we will learn more from each other. Alone you can stand up for your rights but with people behind you and with you , there will be more force in it and consumers and customers will not be taken for granted. United we stand in getting value for our hard earned money...United we stand in ensuring we get good customer service.

When there is a will there is a way. When you stand up for your rights and for others , somebody will listen to you sooner or later. Your voice will be heard ! But for that you have to speak out ! Silence can sometimes be mistaken as weakness or indifference. Always know your rights and request for those rights to be implemented but if they are not then demand that justice be served.


Always stand up for your rights...

Consumer Rights Consumer Might !

" Sadaa Haq Aithe Rakh ! "

"Manzil mushkil to Kya... Humhe to us rah par chalna hi hai..."


Saturday, September 19, 2015

HDFC Bank's Taxation Team given free hand to play around with people's FDs

Irrespective of any policy  changes they may claim, deducting money from  FDs original principal amount and that too without the customer's knowledge is totally  unacceptable when there is another way to recover the tax on the interest i.e. from the account at the time of crediting that interest to the account. When there is sufficient balance in the account, they have no right whatsoever to recover taxes on the interests given on FDs from the principal amount of the FDs. FDs are supposed to be secure and locked investments from a customer's point of view and nobody had the right to break those FDs except the customer.

HDFC  taxation team is suddenly messing up people's FDs with delayed recovery of taxes on the interests of the FDs and thus creating problems through these complicated transactions when they could simply recover that tax by deducting it from the account.

At this rate, they are being given the power to continuously reduce the principal amount of FDs whenever and as they feel like which can result in unpleasant banking experience for the customer. Their tax deductions have to be clean and smooth like before as well as within the boundaries of the usual procedures.

Having FDs with HDFC had always been a secure and pleasant experience but this recent episode had left me very discontented and insecure regarding my investments with their Bank. I mean to take this up with whoever  has brought about this drastic and negative change in the way HDFC deals with a customer's investment and hopefully try to influence any of their seniors who have the power to reverse this change as such complicated deductions by their taxation team can negatively affect the Bank's relationship with their customers .No customer would like their FDs to be touched like this without his/ her consent even if they had swipe FDs. The taxation team is not even stating who gave them the authorisation to deduct money from the original principal amount of the FDs specially in the presence of sufficient balance in the account. As it is they should recover taxes on the interests given on the FDs at the appropriate time and not later.

I have voiced my concerns. And I hope that something is done about it ! Their Grievance Redressal Cell's resolution and stand on the matter only reflects their commitment to their team and not the customer. Let's see what the Nodal Office does...

One has the Right to  Information and ask for answers specially when your investments are concerned. If nothing else responsibility has to be fixed on the people concerned for the careless and inefficient way they handle our accounts.

Every Bank be it HDFC, Deutsche Bank, HSBC or Citibank has shortcomings but the true character of any Bank comes forward in how they follow up and address the complaints effectively. Fair resolutions must be delivered !




3 comments:

  1. I am deeply disappointed with the unfair resolution provided by the HDFC Principal Nodal Officer's Office and am escalating my complaint further to the next level. They are basically repeating what has already been said but they forget that firstly the Bank should deduct the tax on the interest given on the FDs at the time of crediting the interest which your team did not do on the 11th of August and that is why that may have resulted in the breach of threshold. Secondly in the presence of sufficient amount in the account, why wasn't the tax on the interest of FDs not recovered from the account ?

    Whatever may be the reason customers should not pay the price for the carelessness of the HDFC taxation team ! If nothing else I want responsibility to be fixed on the team concerned and I may go to Consumer's Court to do just that and possibly claim damages. I will also hilight my recent complaints and prove that this is not the first time I have suffered because of the carelessness of HDFC Bank and would bring up the case where the Bank had clubbed my account in a family group with strangers without my knowledge. Everytime HDFC cannot expect the customer to compromise when their teams cause so much of inconvenience and stress through their careless way of handling the account and investments !

    HDFC has no right to touch the principal amount of FDs in the presence of sufficient balance in an account to cover up their mistake of not recovering tax at the appropriate time.

    As for the offices of the Regional Manager and the Grievance Redressal Officer, I am thoroughly disappointed with their responses too as they just wasted a month by leading me on to believe that justice will be done but eventually repeated what was already conveyed to me by their Taxation team through my Services Manager. Moreover their so called options only reflect all of them favouring the Bank's team. If I was wrong the Bank would not have given those options in the first place which actually camouflage the mistake of their team. Nodal, Grievance Redressal and others do not deserve such responsible posts if they do not have the ability to resolve conflicts between customers and their Bank fairly. HDFC Bank does not even stand true to it's reputation.

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  2. I realise that HDFC Bank does not actually regret the inconvenience caused to me whatever said and done. HDFC's actions clearly demonstrate the fact that they all are not even actually sincerely apologetic

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  3. I would greatly appreciate it if any Banking professionals would advise me on this matter as HDFC is not providing the right answers and accurate information. They are not even ready to accept their mistake that on the 11th of August their taxation team failed to recover the tax from my account on the FD interest credited to the account which I feel may have contributed a lot in the so called breach of threshold of interest according to them on the 18th. Even then they had no right to break the original principal amount of my FDs without informing me. My trust in HDFC is lost now.Before considering going to the Court I want to study this matter thoroughly from all angles.

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