Compensation Policy

 

Effective Date: 18.02.2008

Compensation Policy

As a general practice of any bank is to provide the banking and ancillary services to the public.  Our Bank is providing these services to the public by using modern technology.  While providing these services anything goes wrong and customer may suffered, in that case the customer should be compensated, considering this view our Bank has formulated a Compensation Policy.  This Compensation Policy of the Bank is therefore cover areas relating to unauthorised debiting of accounts, payment of interest to customers for delayed collection of cheques / instruments, payment of cheques after acknowledgement of stop payment instructions, remittances within India, Foreign Exchange services, lending etc.  The policy is based on principles of transparency and fairness in the treatment to customers.

Objectives

 

The objectives of this policy is to establish a system whereby the bank compensates the customer for any financial loss he / she might incur due to deficiency in service on the part of the bank or any act of omission or commission directly attributable to the bank.  By ensuring that the customer is compensated without having to ask for it, we expect that the complainant should contact to the concerned authority at branch level, Administrative Office level of the Bank as the case may be at initial stage instead of approaching directly to the Banking Ombudsman or any other forum for redressal.

This policy covers only the financial losses which customers might incur due to deficiency in the services offered by the bank which can be measured directly and as such the commitments under the policy are without prejudice to any right the bank will have in defending its position before any forum duly constituted to adjudicate banker customer disputes.

If the bank has raised an unauthorized/erroneous direct debit to an account, the entry will be reversed immediately on being informed of the erroneous debit, after verifying the position.  In the event the unauthorized/erroneous debit has resulted in a financial loss for the customer by way of reduction in the minimum balance applicable for payment of interest on savings bank deposit or payment of additional interest to the bank in a loan account, the bank will compensate the customer for such loss. Further, if the customer has suffered any financial loss incidental to return of a cheque or failure of direct debit instructions due to insufficiency of balance on account of the unauthorized/erroneous debit, the bank will compensate the customer to the extent of such financial losses.

In case verification of the entry reported to be erroneous by the customer does not involve a third party, the bank shall arrange to complete the process of verification within a maximum period of 7 working days from the date of reporting of erroneous debit.  In case, the verification involves a third party, the bank shall complete the verification process within a maximum period of one month from the date of reporting of erroneous transaction by the customer. 

Erroneous transaction reported by customers in respect of credit card operations which require reference to a merchant establishment will be handled as per rules laid down by card association.

The bank will undertake to carry out direct debit/ ECS debit instructions of customers in time. In the event the bank fails to meet such commitments customer will be compensated to the extent of any financial loss the customer would incur on account of delay in carrying out the instruction/failure to carry our the instructions.

The bank would debit the customer’s account with any applicable service charge as per the schedule of charges notified by the bank. In the event the bank levies any charge in violation of the arrangement, the bank will reverse the charges when pointed out by the customer subject to scrutiny of agreed terms and conditions. Any consequential financial loss to the customer will also be compensated.

Where it is established that the bank had issued and activated a credit card without written consent of the recipient, the bank would not only reverse the charges immediately but also pay a penalty without demur to the recipient amounting to twice the value of charges reversed as per regulatory guidelines in this regard at present no credit cards issued by our bank, it may be applicable in case credit cards are issued in future.

In case a cheque has been paid after stop payment instruction is acknowledged by the bank, the bank shall reverse the transaction and give value-dated credit to protect the interest of the customer. Any consequential financial loss to the customer will be compensated as provided under para 1 above. Such debits will be reversed within 2 working days of the customer intimating the transaction to the bank at present no credit cards are issued it may be applicable in case credit cards are issued in future.
 

The Bank would not compensate the customer for delays in collection of cheques designated in foreign currencies sent to foreign countries as the bank would not be able to ensure timely credit from overseas banks. It is the bank’s experience that time for collection of instruments drawn on banks in foreign countries differ from country to country and even within a country, from place to place. The time norms for return of instruments cleared provisionally also vary from country to country. Bank however, would consider upfront credit against such instrument by purchasing the cheque/instrument, provided the conduct of the account has been satisfactory in the past. However, the bank will compensate the customer for undue delays in affording credit once proceeds are credited to the Nostro Account of the bank with its correspondent.  Such compensation will be given for delays beyond one week from the date of credit to Nostro Account/ due date after taking into account normal cooling period stipulated. The compensation in such cases will be worked out as follows:

The compensation on account of delays in collection of instruments would be as indicated in the bank’s collection policy, which is, reproduced below for information:

            “Payment of Interest for delayed Collection of Outstation Cheques:

As part of the compensation policy of the bank, the bank will pay interest to its customer on the amount of collection instruments in case there is delay in giving credit beyond the time period mentioned above.  Such interest shall be paid without any demand from customers in all types of accounts.  There shall be no distinction between instruments drawn on the bank’s own branches or on other banks for the purpose of payment of interest on delayed collection. 

Interest for delayed collection shall be paid at the following rates:

It may be noted that interest payment as given above would be applicable only for instruments sent for collection within India”.

The bank’s compensation policy for financial loss suffered by the customers due to loss of instrument after it has been handed over to the bank for collection by the customer would also be as indicated in our collection policy.  The same is extracted below for information:

            “Cheques / Instruments lost in transit / in clearing process or at paying bank’s branch:

In the event a cheque or an instrument accepted for collection is lost in transit or in the clearing process or at the paying bank’s branch, the bank shall immediately on coming to know of the loss, bring the same to the notice of the accountholder so that the accountholder can inform the drawer to record stop payment and also take care that cheques, if any, issued by him / her are not dishonoured due to non-credit of the amount of the lost cheques / instruments.  The bank would provide all assistance to the customer to obtain a duplicate instrument from the drawer of the cheque.

In line with the compensation policy of the bank the bank will compensate the accountholder in respect of instruments lost in transit in the following way:

In the event of receipt of any complaint from the customer that the bank’s representative / courier or DSA has engaged in any improper conduct or acted in violation of the Code of Bank’s Commitment to Customers which the bank has adopted voluntarily, bank shall take appropriate steps to investigate and to handle the complaint and to compensate the customer for financial losses, if any.

 

The RBI has expressed concern over the lack of transparency in the arrangement for payment of “at par” instruments of co-operative banks by commercial banks resulting in dishonor of such instruments when the remitter has already paid for the instruments. In this connection it is clarified that the bank will not honour cheques drawn on current accounts maintained by other banks with it unless arrangements are made for funding cheques issued. Issuing bank should be responsible to compensate the cheque holder for non payment/delayed payment of cheques in the absence of adequate funding arrangement.

[* para 7 is applicable only for policy documents of commercial banks]

8.   Force Majeure
The bank shall not be liable to compensate customers for delayed credit if some unforeseen event (including but not limited to civil commotion, sabotage, lockout, strike or other labour disturbances, accident, fires, natural disasters or other “Acts of God”, war, damage to the bank’s facilities or of its correspondent bank(s), absence of the usual means of communication or all types of transportation, etc beyond the control of the bank prevents it from performing its obligations within the specified service delivery parameters.