I want to draw the attention of bank customers about their consumer right as a customer of the bank**.It
is practice of the bank to send the periodic statements of customers
including term deposit receipts through ordinary mail only. This
carries the high risk of wrongful delivery of the bank documents and
chances of falling in hands unscrupulous persons. I would like to
highlight the fact that the bank documents are meant for the customers
are always important and its contain should not be disclosed
other than the customers.Hence, the bank documents are one’s personal property and that needs privacy.
Each bank has to adopt the code of conduct set by The **Banking code and Standard board of India, RBI voluntarily.
By sending such important document through ordinary mail the
bank has violated the clause 5, of privacy and confidentiality of
banking code and standard” Code of Bank’s Commitments to Customers” which states as:
5 Privacy and Confidentiality
We will treat all your personal information as private and
confidential [even when you are no longer a customer], and shall be
guided by the following principles and policies. We will not reveal
information or data relating to your accounts, whether provided by you
or otherwise, to anyone, including other companies entities in our
group, other than in the following exceptional cases:
a. **if we have to give the information by law
b. **If there is a duty towards the public to reveal the information
c. **If our
interests require us to give the information (for example, to prevent
fraud) but we will not use this as a reason for giving information
about you or your accounts [including your name and address] to anyone
else, including other companies in our group, for marketing purposes
d. **If you ask us to reveal the information, or if we have your permission
e. **If we are asked to give a banker’s reference about you, we will need your written permission before we give it.
f. **We, will
explain to you the extent of your rights under the existing legal
framework for accessing the personal records that we hold about you
g. **We will not use your
personal information for marketing purposes by anyone including
ourselves unless you specifically authorize us to do so.
* There fore, all information related to a account should always
be mailed through registered /reputed courier agents or by hand over the counter only to its account
holders. We need a strict procedural change in the practice of the bank.*