I was lured to provide a life time free Regalia Credit Card by a HDFC employee - yes an employee, in 2017. When I got a different category of card, I informed the employee that I am not interested in the card and she conned me and that I am destroying the credit card as I had no intention to use it.
To my surprise, a few months later, I noticed that there are utility charges on my credit card. Since I had not authorised them, I reported the matter and I was told that the charges were authorised by myself. I have photocopy of the full set of my credit card application. And just to be sure, I checked it and I did not authorised any such charges.
HDFC Compliance got involved and they conferenced the same employee who approached me for credit card and she accepted having done the fraud to meet the target. I was assured that this is the end of my problems and everything will be sorted out.
Obviously, this FRAUDULENT activity could not have been done only in my case. This must have been an ongoing activity to meet the target. I hoped that the saga is going to be over soon. Instead, I started getting repeated calls from their recovery teams to pay up the money.
It’s been over three years and after spending enough time corresponding with the bank’s officers at various levels, I approached the HDFC Country Head of Credit Card section - but no response on repeated mails from his office.
All this while, I was being reported as a defaulter to CIBIL which by the way, still continues and adversely affected my rating.
Finally, I escalated the matter to Mr. Anil Puri and in 2019, it got little traction. I was asked to provide proof; and also see the scanned image with the HDFC bank where I had supposedly authorised the utility payments. I was asked to visit their Dindoshi branch in Mumbai for this task and the branch head saw my set of application photocopy and I saw the application image in the HDFC Bank’s records.
I was SHOCKED! I never imagined this magnitude of the FRAUD . HDFC Bank staff had filled up another credit card application, FORGED MY SIGNATURES on this application and the utility authorisation form, and used my credit card supporting documents. The application numbers are obviously different(just to put a contextual reference to the benefit of the HDFC bank, the application number CC32542824 should help). For just meeting the targets, one would not go to that extent - it was obviously not a work of a novice. The Dindoshi branch head was speechless and she assured me that she will inform the CEO office that she has sighted my photocopy set and that the application records in HDFC bank are FORGED.
This is such a serious matter that even a small cooperative bank, conscious of its reputation, would have preferred to investigate and take action but HDFC bank preferred to keep quite thereafter. Further emails to Mr Puri’s office did not yield any meaningful result. Each time I sent a mail with related background emails included as forwards to get update, HDFC bank preferred to give a new case reference asking time to investigate!
I have now escalated this FRAUD CASE to Mr. Sashidhar Jagdishan. Offered him to assign a senior manager who understands banking; speak with me and resolve this long pending FRAUDULENT CASE but nothing has changed! The DNA remains the same - I got a new reference number after 40 days asking for 12 days time to investigate.
And I have a response now after the 12 days investigation - guess what, asking me to pay!
Does the HDFC bank understand that in FRAUD, there is no Authorisation! Oh. I must mention this - there is an offer this time - " as a complete gesture of service, we offer to reverse the finance charges subject to my payment."
No one in HDFC bank is interested in the FRAUD done by HDFC EMPLOYEE!
Even after escalations to the HDFC bank’s CEOs .
HDFC bank is not willing to WAKE UP! That staff and /or her team would have compromised other cases as well! All under the carpet, I guess!
Wonder what kind of
AUDIT;
FRAUD PREVENTION;
COMPLIANCE;
COMPLAINT RESOLUTION;
INTERNAL RISK & CONTROL
framework HDFC bank has!
A sheer DISASTER! And I am exhausted now.
Plan to send this case to the HDFC bank’s Statutory Auditors. let’s see if they act on it . and finally to the RBI. Suggestion to Mouthshut - Please include option to rate on negative side as well!