File a complaint against Bank services

Banking Complaints

A bank refers to a financial institution that accepts deposits and creates credit. Banks are of utmost importance to the economy and are a safe place to deposit excess cash.

The Indian Banking sector is ranked 6th across the globe. With many private sector and public sector banks thriving in India, the banking industry is congruously capitalised and well-regulated by the Reserve Bank of India. The stats on market, credit and liquidity bespeak the handy preparedness to sustain any global crisis.

India is presently home to 34 banks out of which 22 are private sector banks, and 12 are public-owned banks. Multiple other Foreign Private Sector Banks are operating as part of the Indian banking sector as well. Let us take a look at the Top 5 Famous Banks in India.

Famous Banks in India

1. State Bank of India: SBI is the oldest and also the largest bank functioning in India and has been a Fortune 500 company for 14 long years. Post-Independence, the State Bank of India got enacted on 1st July 1955. It has its headquarters located in Mumbai, the financial capital of the country.

The bank has 57 Zonal centres and 14 Local centres with 85,356 branches and 59,291 ATMs pan India. SBI has a market cap of INR 2,93,218.11 crores with a market share of 23% with its presence in 36+ countries. It has been recognised as the Best Transaction Bank & Best Payment Bank in India.

Total Assets – INR 30 lakh crores
Revenue – INR 3.68 lakh crores
Number of employees – 2,64,041

2. HDFC Bank: The bank is well known for receiving first 'in principle' consent from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) which authorised it to set up a bank in the private sector. It was founded in August 1994 given the liberalisation that took place in the Indian Banking Industry.

The bank started its operations as a Commercial Bank from January 1995. With its headquarters in Mumbai, The Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) functions across 2,768 towns and cities with 5,314 branches and 13,610 ATMs in India. It has a market cap of Rs.6,25,666 crores as of 2019.

Total Assets – INR 11.89 lakh crores
Revenue – INR 1.17 lakh crores
Number of employees – 98,061

3. ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) Bank Private Limited: It occupies the second place when it comes to volume of assets operated by the bank. The bank is the second largest in terms of market cap and total assets, making it the leading private sector bank in India.

ICICI was formed in 1994 with the principal aim to offer medium-term and long-term project funding to Indian businesses. The bank has its headquarters in Mumbai with its registered office in Vadodara, Gujarat. It currently has its footprint across India with 5,275 branches and 15,589 ATMs along with its presence in 16 countries outside India.

Total Assets – Rs. 13.77 trillion
Revenue – INR 1.49 lakh crores
Total employees – 82,724

4. Punjab National Bank: The Punjab National Bank, PNB is the third-largest bank functioning in India. The bank serves more than 80 million customers with 7000 branches and 10,681 ATMs, expanding its footprint to 764 cities. It currently operates from its head office located in New Delhi.

Founded in 1894 from Lahore, the bank has served eminent freedom fighters of India. It later got nationalised in July 1969. As one of the oldest banks in the country, it has a market cap of Rs. 37,411 crores as in 2019. PNB recently bagged the prestigious IBA Banking Technology Awards.

Total Assets – INR 6 lakh crores
Revenue – INR 80,512 crores
Total employees – 70,801

5. Bank of Baroda: Bank of Baroda has now become the third-largest lender of the country after it merged with Vijaya Bank and Dena Bank into a single entity. It carries a pride of 127 million customers across 21 countries and growing bigger and better day by day.

The bank operates from its main office in Vadodara and has 9,500 branches and 13,400 ATMs across India. Founded in July 1908, it has a market cap of more than 35,000 crores currently.

Total Assets – INR 11.5 trillion
Revenue – INR 91,000 crores
Total employees – 48,807

Top Banking Complaints in India

According to a recent survey by Times of India, every hour 11 people complain against their bank. The most commonly reported banking complaints in India by consumers include bad customer service, checks/funds bouncing, extra charges levied, debit/credit card blocked etc.

Almost 30% to 37% of bank complaints occur due to the bank's failure to fulfill commitments and lack of fair practices. Banks reporting fraud or complaints have been on the rise more than ever before. What's more disturbing is the account holders face never-ending issues even after being connected with the banks for a long time.

Around half a million people have reported filing complaints in the last five years. From high interests to willful delay in processing payments (leading to penalties), and lack of fair practices to denial of closing accounts, banking customers are having a tough time continuing with the financial hassle.

The numbers of banking complaints see a double-digit rise in the past few years. The financial period of 2018-19 witnessed a surge of 20% in the complaints against banks. Non-adherence to fair practices saw the most number of complaints followed by issues related to pension, levy of charges, and debit and credit card issues.

1. Hidden fees
Customers feel cheated about the excessive fees and hidden charges by the banks. Most often, customers are not aware how they can choose to stay out of overdraft protection. Unexpected charges by bank remains a major issues for consumers from Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai to Patna. Reaching out to their bank is always a good idea to have a clear picture of fees and extra charges.

2. Bad customer support
This is something which every customer is concerned about. Even if the customers manage to reach out to the customer service, they don't see any credible solution. It gets quite worse when the bank employees are unable to resolve your issue. Being heckled from person to person, and being asked to wait at every desk test the best of temper.

The only solution you have is to stay calm and wait for the response from the bank to get the issue resolved.

3.Beneficiary does not get the money
This is one of the most common issues faced by banking customers in all the major cities in India like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, New Delhi and Kolkata. The amount gets deducted from their account, and it is shown that the transaction is successful, but it doesn’t get credited into the beneficiary’s account. EMI payers mainly lodged such complaints that the EMI would get deducted from their account but would not be credited to the beneficiary.

4. Fraudulent transaction
According to the Economic Times, there is a rise of 74% in banking frauds. Digital transactions via net banking and UPI are preferred over cash for a contactless mode of payment. But with an increase in online payments, there has been a rise in fraud cases.

Many customers complain that the money from their account has been deducted for things they have not purchased. Banks take a lot of time in addressing such complaints, and usually, customers get frustrated with the process.

5. Transaction failure
Transaction failures are very frustrating and embarrassing. When consumers are out, and they haven’t carried the cash, they will pay via net banking or UPI or ATM, but sometimes bank servers would go down suddenly, and the transaction would fail, or in some cases, the amount would get deducted, and the transaction would fail which can be misleading for both payer and recipient.

How to resolve Banking complaints?

1. First and foremost step should be contacting the bank’s customer care itself as they genuinely care about the customer satisfaction and would be willing to resolve the consumer complaints. Here are customer care number of some of top banks in India :

State bank of India (SBI) Customer Care - 1800 425 3800
Union Bank of India (UBI) Customer Care - 1800 22 2244
Allahabad Bank Customer Care - 1800 57 22 000
Bank of Baroda Customer Care - 1800 102 4455
UCO Bank Customer Care - 1800 274 0123
Bank of Maharashtra Customer Care - 18002334526
Bank of India (BOI) Customer Care - 1800 22 0229
Central Bank of India (CBI) Customer Care - 1800 22 1911
HDFC Bank Card Customer Care - 1800 266 4332
ICICI Bank Customer Care - 1800 200 3344
Punjab National Bank (PNB) Customer Care - 1800 180 2222
Axis Bank Customer Care - 1860 419 5555

2. Apart from calling customer care numbers, a customer can visit the bank and meet the officials or complain at the grievance cell to sort out the issue. However, you should try submitting your complaint to the bank in writing, to keep a record of your complaint. Also, some banks have an option of filing a complaint at their website also.

3. However if the bank is unwilling to address the issue then you can approach the Banking Ombudsman. A banking ombudsman is a senior official appointed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to resolve consumer complaints against deficiency in the banking services. So far there are a total number of 15 Bank Ombudsman whose number can be found on the official RBI website.

The consumer has to file a complaint at the ombudsman under whose jurisdiction the bank branch is located. All the consumer has to do is write it down on paper, or send a complaint via email. There are no charges for filing a complaint. However if you are not satisfied with the settlement offered by the ombudsman, you can file an appeal before the appellate authority within 30 days.

4. Send Legal Notice:
A Consumer can send legal notices to the Bank in case it is unable to resolve his complaint. It is one of the efficient ways to handle consumer complaints legally. Check below to know how to send a legal notice to a Bank?

Step 1: Firstly, get a legal notice drafted by a lawyer.
Step 2: Check it properly and make sure it is signed by a lawyer.
Step 3: Keep a copy of it for future purposes.
Step 4: Send the legal notice to the Bank by registered post.
Step 5: Keep the slip or delivery report for evidence.

5. File consumer forum case:
Consumer forum deals with consumer complaints and you should approach the consumer forum if you feel that your rights as a consumer have been violated.

If your Bank is not responding to your complaint even after sending legal notice by a lawyer then you should file a case against it in a consumer court.

Here is how you can file a case against the Bank in the consumer court?

Step 1: Intimate the aggrieved party via legal notice.
Step 2: Draft the consumer complaint
Step 3: Attach all the relevant documents and proofs to support your complaint.
Step 4: Select the appropriate court for filing the complaint.
Step 5: Pay the prescribed court fee that is required to be paid along with the complaint.
Step 6: Submit the case along with the affidavit & fees in the court.

There are strong chances of nothing being done against your complaint if you're not serious about it. So, if you are still left stranded with nowhere else to go then you can always file a consumer complaint at Voxya. We at Voxya, generally receive around thousands of Banking complaints in a month.

So how do we actually resolve these Banking complaints? We start a social media campaign and then send an email to the Banks to resolve the complaint amicably. Moreover if strict actions need to be taken then we draft a legal notice and send it to the concerned Bank.

Most Common Issue Reported for Banking Complaints

Fraudulent transaction

Beneficiary not credited

No Cashback

Bad customer support

Unauthorized Wallet transaction

Amount deducted but transaction failed

Bank refund issues (State Bank of India ) ^Open

An amount of Rs *****.** got deducted on ** Aug ** on account of the failure of flight booking through Paytm. On contacting to Paytm representatives they informed me that the payment will be refunded through the bank. On **st August ****, I ca...

Sep 08, 2019 by Mustafa Jamal

False commitment by the executive (HDFC Credit cards) ^Open

Executive give me false commitment regarding annual fees of HDFC Credit card. When they call me they told me there are no annual fees in Credit card. After one year in my statement show annual fees. I and my * colleges take the same card from...

Sep 07, 2019 by Mayank rajak

Amount deducted but not credited in merchant account (PayTM) ^Open

Payment through UPI made on */*/**** and money got deducted from my bank. Paytm care told me that transaction processed from their end but amount not credited to the merchant. Reference number mentioned in below photo attachment....

Sep 07, 2019 by Krishna

Refund issue related (Mobikwik) ^Open

I made a credit card payment of Rs *****.** on Aug *st **** through Mobikwik with reference number ************ but my credit card payment was not made. It was not intimated to me by Mobikwik. But the amount was debited from my bank. I contacte...

Sep 05, 2019 by Venkatesh M

Atm se rupye prapt na hone ke vishey me (Bank of Baroda ) ^Open

** June **** ko Bank of Baroda atm se **** rupye nikalte samye light chali jane se **** Rs. atm machine se bhar nhi aaye kintu bank se cash withdraw hone ka SMS prapt huwa. Bank account se **** Rs. cut gye....

Sep 04, 2019 by Anjita teshwar D/O Balram

Lein amount in my savings account (State Bank of India ) ^Open

I have saving account in State bank of India. In my account showing lein amount Rs. *,**,***/- but I have not received any kind of message and I don't have any outstanding. When I call customer care they told visit the home branch....

Sep 04, 2019 by VENUGOPAL MUGALA

Mental suffering because of negligence and carelessness (Citibank) ^Open

This email I am writing to you today is to express my concern and voice my discontent at the Citibank employees for their poor behaviour and erroneous judgment. Highlighted below is my experience. On August **th, Aagam Nagaraju from Citibank c...

Sep 04, 2019 by Shashank m

Debited amount from my account (icici bank) ^Open

Rs *** Rs twice debited wrongly in my account but not refunded. Please do the needful....

Sep 03, 2019 by Venkatesan n r

Money was deducted from my Mobikwik wallet and it did not come back (Mobikwik) ^Open

The money has been deducted from my Mobikwik wallet and they are telling about the bank but the bank is not giving any procedure to it because this amount has not been reflected in their statement and the other thing is that the money which was...

Sep 03, 2019 by Vikram kumar jha

Regarding KCC loan NOC (Hdfc Bank) ^Open

My husband takes the KCc loans from HDFC bank Vijaynagar Jabalpur. As of now he no more. After the death of my husband, I am arranging the overdue amount settled the loans on June **. The bank also provides me settlement letters but after * mon...

Sep 02, 2019 by Amit kumar jain

Bank mitra ke liye (Emitra csp foundation ) ^Open

Is company ne bank csp dilane ki bat kahkar meri bat sabase pahle Sanjay Sharma ji se karayi. Inhone registration ke nam par ***** a/c ke liye ***** liye or bole ki ***** aapko RBI bank degi. Apke area location pe aane ke liye travel ka kharch ...

Sep 02, 2019 by Amar pal

Bfc services fraudulent issue (Bharat Finance Capital Loan Services) ^Open

I had applied for a loan of * lakhs in the company Bharat Finance Capital Services (BFC services) located in Prayagraj Uttar Pradesh yesterday by seeing their ad by Quikr. After submitting the documents through WhatsApp they had verified and sa...

Sep 02, 2019 by Ajay Kumar Mishra

Money blocked with wallet account (Airtel bank) ^Open

I am registered with Airtel money wallet. After that added **** into the wallet account. But that was blocked with Airtel money wallet. I contact customer service but they did not resolve yet. ...

Sep 01, 2019 by G SESHAKUMARI

ATM money not withdraw (Canara bank madhugiri branch) ^Open

On ** June ****, I came at Canara bank ATM near Tumkur gate Madhugiri. I insert my card to draw the amount of Rs *****. First time its ask input pin I press my pin amount not received. It shows please insert correct card. Second time in insert ...

Aug 30, 2019 by Vishalakshamma

Amount not refund (SBI & Phone pe ) ^Open

While paying electricity bill of ₹*,*** on ** July my transection failed but an amount has been deducted from my bank account and * Times I have already complain in SBI costomer care for it but they cancelled my complain saying incorrect det...

Aug 30, 2019 by Anushka Pradhan

Money debited from my account but was not credited to merchant account (Google Pay) ^Open

I made a transaction through google pay inorder to book a bus ticket. money was debited from my account but was not credited to merchant account ,and i even did not received a bus ticket i was asked to make *nd transaction by merchant ..and ...

Aug 29, 2019 by Rohan jiwatode

Bonus amount is not credited (PayTM) ^Open

In paytm game frst i havr received a offer stating that get **%bonus on min deposit of ****rs... so i have deposited the same and played the game.. they said that after **hrs they will provide the bonus amount.. till now the bonus amount have n...

Aug 29, 2019 by Hemalatha

Amount deducted without notification (Hdfc Bank) ^Open

The amount of Rs.*** has been deducted from my HDFC savings bank account on **th Aug ****. Please help....

Aug 28, 2019 by Poojitha Majji

Refund not initiated for flight tickets (PayTM) ^Open

I have booked * international flight tickets (Jet-Airways) on Paytm portal. I have already waited for more than * months, still I haven't received the refund. Initially Paytm clearly informed me that, my PNRs got picked up for refund and then ...

Aug 27, 2019 by Abhishek Pattjoshi

Wrong deduction of amount (PayTM) ^Open

I have taken loan from Kredit Bee app against loan id KB******XICN dtd. **-**-**. I made online payment of amt. **,***/- through paytm gateway dtd. **-**-** but in app loan is scheduled for repayment. Attached also find the text message receive...

Aug 27, 2019 by Afjal Ali Ansary