I am a Privileged customer of the bank as I have a balance above a certain amount. I am forced to maintain this a/c as it is my salary a/c, otherwise I would have moved over to Axis or HSBC a long time ago.
Some years back, the bank coaxed me into opening two a/cs in the names of my minor children. So far so good. Now, when my son turned 18, I visited the branch in Oct 2009 to resolve the issue, either by making a new a/c for him or withdrawing the money.
I was told that my son would need a PAN card to open a new a/c! I was flabbergasted! I did not know that these were the new norms! An ordinary middle class boy with a balance of Rs 10000/- needs a PAN card, whereas Madhu Koda’s friends can deposit Rs 640 crores in CASH in a bank without anybody coming to know! Does Madhu Koda even have a PAN card, I wonder!
I decided to withdraw the money by closing the minor a/c. Could I get the proceeds in cash? No. I would get a cheque. I thought, OK, I will probably deposit it into my other a/c. When the chq came, it was in my "Son’s name under/guardian My Name". I could not deposit it into my main a/c, my customer relationship manager told me! However, she said, we could give it a try and I deposited it with a nice covering letter explaining that I would be using the funds for my son’s benefit. Why does a parent open an a/c for his minor child, anyway? So that the money can benefit the child! But the bank can’t understand such subtleties!
The chq got’returned’, in the sense I got a phone call from their call centre that the chq had been returned, that’s all. I called my customer relations mgr, she assured me that the chq would be sent to my home address. So I waited, and I waited and I waited.
I waited till 16/1/2010, when I am writing this bitter review. Today, my cust relations manager tells me she has traced the chq to my a/c main branch and will be getting it to her branch! Why could they not mail the chq to me directly?
LESSONS LEARNT: 1. Don’t open a minor a/c
You need a PAN card for everything
Better deal in cash
4, NEVER deal with ICICI bank