ICICI Bank told to pay relief

Mohali, December 15
The Mohali Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has come to the rescue of a Chandigarh resident, Raghbir Singh, by directing the ICICI Bank to return the service charges levied on him by the bank.
Directing the bank to refund Rs 6,648, along with interest to the account holder, the forum comprising BS Mehandiratta and Dr SS Dhaliwal, president and member, respectively, stated that the amount should be refunded within a period of one month.
The complainant stated before the forum that he was having a savings bank account No.005801013217 with the bank and at the time of opening the account, he was told to maintain a minimum balance of Rs 5,000 in the account which he duly did.
However, the opposite party never sent him quarterly statements of the account which was mandatory. The bank even did not inform him about any change in the conditions of operation of the account. The complainant needed some money. He checked his balance from the ATM and learnt that there was an amount of Rs 54 only to his credit. He contacted the branch officer of the opposite party and procured a bank statement which showed that deductions had been made from his account at a rate of Rs 843 after every three months for not maintaining a minimum balance of Rs 10,000 with effect from October, 2008.
The bank withdrew from his account a sum of Rs 4,800 without informing him.
Holding the bank responsible for deficiency in service, the forum observed that the opposite party had failed to place on record any guidelines or criteria of the RBI allowing it to levy service charges at an exorbitant rate. “This amounts to unfair trade practice,” stated the forum.