HOW TO FILE A COMPLAINT AGAINST YOUR BANK

Find out where to lodge your grievance and the steps you need to take to redress it suitably.

AMIT SHANBAUG

    Laxmi Bhardarkar, an 81-year-old retired schoolteacher from Mumbai, feared phone calls till recently. It wasn’t suprising considering that she had received nearly 1,500 threatening, abusive calls for over two months. Bhardarkar’s fault? Her son had pending dues on his credit card, a transaction he had not even carried out. He had sent a letter to the bank, pointing out the error and refusing to pay. After this, he had to go abroad for an official assignment, and while he was away, the bank appointed recovery agents, who started harassing his mother. The ordeal ended when the family contacted the police.
    The Bhardarkar family isn’t alone in its predicament, nor is it the only grievance against banks. In 2011-12, 48,180 complaints were filed against public-sector banks alone. Here are the steps you need to take to redress your grievance. Step 1
Complain to your bank According to Adhil Shetty, CEO, Bankbazaar.com, nearly all banks have a grievance cell. “So a customer can visit the bank and meet the officials to sort out the issue,” he says. Banks have a dedicated toll-free customer care number, which you can use to lodge your grievance and get a complaint ID. “You can also register a complaint on the bank’s website,” he adds.
    KS Harikumar, head, operations, Federal Bank, explains that e-mails can also be sent to the service quality department in public-sector banks. “This is an exclusive unit dealing with customer grievances and headed by an executive of the rank of general manager. The complaints posted directly on the bank’s website are also resolved by this department,” he says. Harikumar adds that some banks have begun or are in the process of starting a realtime monitoring system for the complaints received centrally through the customer relationship management (CRM), which is set up in all branches. Once the complaint is lodged, the customer needs to wait for 30 days for the bank to offer a solution or give a suitable reply. Step 2
Approach the banking ombudsman If your bank does not address your complaint within a month, you can approach the banking ombudsman. This is a senior official appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to redress customer complaints against deficiency in banking services, as per its scheme introduced in 1995. All scheduled commercial banks, regional rural banks and scheduled primary cooperative banks are covered under the scheme. So far, there are 15 ombudsmen, whose offices are located mostly in state capitals. Their addresses and contact details are available on the RBI website. The ombudsman tries to effect a legally binding settlement between both the parties within a month. However, if a settlement is not possible, it will pass an award after allowing both the parties to present their cases to him.
    Types of grievances When the scheme was introduced, it addressed complaints such as non-payment or delayed payment of cheques and drafts, and services such as remittances. However, in the ensuing years, the scope has widened to include grievances related to plastic money, unfair banking practices, levying of service charges without prior intimation, transactions on the Internet banking platform, and the like. Deficiency in service with respect to loans and advances, say, delays in sanctioning/disbursing loans and non-acceptance of loan applications without a valid explanation, are also valid grounds for complaint. For a complete list of the types of complaints you can take up under this scheme, visit www.rbi.org.in/scripts/FAQView.aspx?Id=24.
Lodging a complaint You have to file the complaint at the office of the ombudsman under whose jurisdiction your bank branch is located. The grievances relating to credit cards and other types of services with centralised operations are to be filed with the ombudsman in whose territorial jurisdiction the billing address of the customer is located.
    You can put it down on a plain paper, send an e-mail, or fill the complaint form on the RBI website. There are no charges for filing a complaint.
Grounds for rejection The ombudsman can reject a customer’s complaint if he has not approached his bank for grievance redressal first, or if the subject is pending for disposal, or has already been dealt with at any other forum, such as a court of law or consumer court. Also, the complaint will not be considered if more than one year has passed since the customer has heard from the bank, or 13 months since the date of representation to the bank.
Compensation limit The scheme caps the amount of compensation that can be doled out to 10 lakh or actual loss suffered, whichever is lower. The ombudsman may choose to award the compensation, not exceeding 1 lakh, to the complainant for mental agony and harassment. However, so far, this has been limited to complaints regarding credit card operations. Step 3
Legal route If you are not happy with the settlement offered by the ombudsman, you can file an appeal before the appellate authority within 30 days. The appellate authority in this case is the deputy governor of the RBI. Alternatively, you can approach consumer redressal forums, which take up bank-related complaints, or even the courts.

Source : ET Wealth - 21-Jan-2013

 

HOW TO HANDLE FINANCES FOR AND AFTER A WEDDING

  Before they marry, couples need to discuss how they will share their joint wealth, says Uma Shashikant.

    It is the season of weddings, and as I attended my share of the events, several questions crossed my mind. It is tough for families to view everything from a monetary angle. There are social and peer pressures, emotional gratification and many other aspects to a wedding, besides the ones associated with living together. I risk being told off that there are things that money cannot buy. However, all of us know the power of money and how poor financial decisions can hurt us. Money matters can easily stress families, especially young ones who have high expectations. The emotional, social, psychological, even karmic angles, make these decisions complicated. Perhaps, it would simplify things and help us deal with these questions if we have a money framework that we can follow. 

    First, I am amazed at the amount of money that is spent on weddings even by the simplest of families. Perhaps the flourishing parallel economy has deeply influenced our social events. The grandest weddings are still conducted by those who seek a good excuse to spend the black money they have hoarded and earn some social brownie points. The new standard these extravagances have set for the simpler folk is disturbing. The money spent on weddings is easily a multiple of the savings of the family. 

    A goal or an expense that cannot be met comfortably by the current regular salary needs a well-thought out saving and investment plan. However, several families scoff at including weddings in their financial plans. The confidence about future incomes makes youngsters big spenders. However, middle-aged parents, who are spending a large sum, may be compromising another goal—retirement or the education of another child. This is why the funding of a wedding needs to be a project that a family should plan seriously well in advance. 

    Second, several newly-weds end up being a part of the extended families. It is not uncommon for children to stay with parents after marriage along with their spouses. I see doting parents living with their children and raising their grandchildren, thus enabling the younger generation to pursue paying careers. But what about the finances? Who manages the household expenses? Who bears the EMIs and loans? Is there a common spending pool? Is there a fair contribution to it? 

    A household with multiple incomes and common expenses needs a working plan to run smoothly. A plan to take care of the macro items without getting into the nitty-gritty. For example, if there are advantages of living with parents, do the younger members invest the savings in rent, housekeeping and childcare for the future benefit of the parents? I find that most 

households begin with trust, goodness, generosity and kindness, but the lack of a sensible spending and sharing plan results in acrimony, leading to a deterioration of relationships. 

    Third, weddings are expensive, from the functions and trousseau to the honeymoon. Later, to please a new spouse, there may be more expenses on travel, gifts, eating out, and the like. Reduced saving ratios, higher credit card expenses, and occasional hand loans from friends are all par for the course. However, without pre-planned savings, or a plan for repayment, unbridled enjoyment can result in financial stress and a high-cost debt. Many people are unwilling to discuss finances or the affordability of an expense with the new spouse. Most are likely to spend with a sense of joy and entitlement. It is important to make a mental map of where this will go in the long run. Cash-flow maps for spending and repayment need to be maintained, budgets 

should be made even if these are not
disclosed, and care should be taken to ensure that all fun is not about spending money. Including lowcost fun activities and setting the tone for affordability, sooner than later, is important. Debt traps are not good to deal with in the early days of marriage. 

 
    Fourth, young couples tend to set benchmarks for their standard of living based on their peer group. To have their own car, home and a lavish lifestyle is too enticing to be ignored. There is a need to prioritise and sequence the goals to avoid stress. Buying a car and home, and bringing in a huge EMI because of an employed new spouse, can turn into a risky proposition, especially if the spouse would like a career break to raise children or if one of the spouse’s job faces a risk. Having too many loans and EMIs, and clubbing multiple financial goals can stress finances seriously. It may be a good idea to see what portion of the joint income can be devoted to these possessions and how it would be funded and managed. 

    Fifth, young couples find it tough to discuss ‘your money’ and ‘my money’. Many are still not comfortable with pre-nuptial agreements. Money is personal to each person who earns it, and attitudes to money can be very different. I know of a household, where the husband saved his income, while the wife used hers to run the household. The couple sadly broke up, and the wife was left with no assets. Each spouse needs his or her corpus to fall back on. How, how much, when and where are the decisions that need to be taken. 

    Sixth, everyone needs a finance buddy. Many of us are unwilling to discuss money issues with parents, spouses or siblings. We don’t want them to know we have enough, or that we are running short. We all need a friend who knows what our money attitudes are, and helps steer us when we are in trouble. Someone with whom we can discuss alternatives without worrying about being judged. It can be an outsider, adviser, tax consultant or an uncle. Many of us clam up when faced with a crisis and having a friend helps in resolving money issues. 

    There is a lot that changes in our money lives when we decide to get married. It may be worthwhile spending time to think about our money attitudes, capabilities, wealth and willingness to spend before we end up quarrelling about it.

WHY WOMAN DON’T ASK FOR THEIR SHARE IN INHERITED PREOPERTY AND WEALTH?

   Let’s talk about Women and Inheritance today. Our Indian culture, has for thousands of years treated men as someone who lead families and be the heads of next generation and women as someone who will go to some other family after marriage and start a new life. This has been deeply rooted in all our minds for years and years. This is one big reason why women in India are not aware about inheritance laws and their rights in property.

Some families, where there are sons and daughters both, do not even raise the point of dividing the property equally among all of them equally. Daughters who are married are not even in picture at the times, the wealth is divided and it’s considered  natural and something that makes sense. Women on the other hand also do not take any lead or don’t bother asking for their fair share in the family wealth.

Brothers do not share wealth with Sisters

You must have seen cases like these and might be experiencing them in your family as well.

Case 1 : I know a family which had 1 brother and 3 sisters and who had a huge property in Mumbai at a central location, lots of shares, mutual funds and bank accounts, When the father died, people cried and after a month every body was back at home, all 3 daughters who are married didn’t even think for a second that they have a huge 25% share in the wealth, which is a decent amount by today’s standards. All 3 daughters are not so well off  and struggling day in and day out, but they are just not considering the option to ask for their share. Legally if they want, it would be just a matter of a  few months or years and some bitter experiences, but they might reach their financial freedom if they go to court. But they are too emotional to take that step and worry about relationships and the problems which arise out of it.

Case 2 : In another case, there are 2 brothers and 2 sisters (all married), and after the father’s death, the brothers are fighting with each other for property “Father spend so much on your education, my career was affected because of that, So I should logically get more now.” Fair point logically, but from legal point of view, it does not matter much how father treated whom . The sad part of this story is that brothers are fighting for their share and also sharing their plight with their sisters, but not for a second do they think that even sisters are legal heirs and should also get their share. (Incase you didnt knew – Hindu Succession Law is applied when a WILL is not written)

It’s not Fair!

Just because now they are part of another family, they are not seen as valid heirs. I am raising this point today because this is wrong practice. Women now have to raise their voices and ask for their share from their parents and brothers. If required, ask for it legally. Just because father has spend lot of money on wedding of sister and given her gold does not mean she can be cut off from the family wealth sharing.

If father writes a WILL saying that he wants to give his wealth in some specific proportion, then it’s fine, it’s your father wish. But if a WILL is not present, then you are a valid legal heir, you should ask for your share and you will get it.

Look at it as part of your Financial Plan

If you are a man, your wife might be entitled for her share of wealth from her parents’. In today’s world where money has become so important, see if you can convince her to ask for her share. It might get her valid share of money and can help you in leading a better financial life. I am not saying this because you should be money minded, but because its a fair thing to ask for.

Source : Manish Chauhan - www.jagoinvestor.com

 

Women and Money- Lets JOIN HANDS to empower and encourage women investors

  Do you know that only 1% of world wealth is owned by women , while women constitute 40% of the global workforce ? – World Bank . This is a little disturbing fact, and question now is, when women are working so much, giving a lot, have equal capability, then why they have so much less owned on their name ? When it comes to the area of money, Men are so much involved in personal finance, but women are not and that creates a big imbalance. Here is a small example to show how women suffers in her financial life because of this imbalance in understanding and knowledge of money

We at jagoinvestor want to start our 2013 with a vision of increasing financial literacy among women in India and we are looking at how we can reach 1 million women and teach them importance of financial literacy in their life. Now how is this related to you ? When we say “women” here, it also includes your wife, sister, mother, daughters and if you want to increase your financial life quality, you need to make sure that they learn about money. 2 years back, when I wrote about women and their personal finance knowledge, it was shocking to learn that 84% of educated, urban women dont have any knowledge or very minimal understanding of personal finance concepts.

Lets see why Women are not interested in personal finance matters

• From decades and generations, it has been dominated by men and only men, women are not even consulted or informed ever
• Women feel that their income is secondary to men, hence whats the use of managing it
• Women are so involved with children, cooking and other household work , that they don’t get time
• Women feel personal finance is complex and do not like numbers

But what happens when Men is not around ?

The best way to make you imagine what happens to women life if she does not have any idea about managing money is to ask you to imagine about your own case, Just imagine in your absence  what is going to be the scene ? You have never encouraged women at your home to learn about money , neither they took any interest, but someday they might have to take charge and that day it will be very frustrating experience for them. We are trying to do some work in the area of financial literacy for Women and once we create something useful for women investors, we would like to share it with you all, so that women at your home can use it and take the first step towards financial literacy, but we need some help from you on this.

We have created a small survey which needs inputs by women, we want to know what they feel about this subject, how much ready are they and what is stopping them to learn about money. If you are a women reader of this blog, please fill up the survey. However if you are a male reader, we need your support, please ask your wife, mother, sister and daughter to take up the survey and spend 5 min on this, tell them they have to do it for you and their future. Just carry your laptop to them and insist them to spend 5 minutes and complete the survey. And if they complete take them out for dinner on our behalf (Bill paid by you of course) … Following is the survey questions

Source : Manish Chauhan - www.jagoinvestor.com