[Resolved]  Citibank — Complaint for not closing salary A/c and imposing charges arbitrarily

Respected Sir,

I have already requested to Customer Care([protected]@citicorp.com) , Head Customer Care (head.[protected]@citi.com and Nodal Grievance Redressal Officer (india.grievance.redressal.[protected]@citi.com) for closure of salary account without imposing any amount shown and imposed illiegally against undersinged but all of them are very biased. I have not got any justice from Citi Bank. Now, with great hope, I am approaching to your forumf to please resolve my grievance.

The causes of grievance are as under :-
1. Salary Account No.[protected] was converted into suvidha individual account without obtaining written permission of the undersigned. The undersigned has never received any intimation about conversion of account.
2. Levying of charges without adequate prior notice to customer is not according to principles framed by RBI.
3. Citi Bank is not closing said account or insistiting on paying unreasonable charges which has been imposed on the undersinged for maintaing account.
4. This act of bank is causing mental agony to the undersinged.
5. Citi Bank redressal mechanism is biased, they are insisting for paying such charges for which the undersigned is not responsible.

PRAYER:-
1. Please direct Citi Bank to close said account with immediate effect.
2. The charges which are being shown and imposed upon the undersinged illegally may be waived.


The briefing is as under :-

I am to say that Salary Account No.[protected] was opened by India Export House (P) Limited, D-5, Sector-8, Noida to transfer salary. Such salary accounts were opened for all employees of this Company. In good faith, the undersinged was constrained to have such account with Citi Bank without going through any details. Citi Bank have openened this salary account under suvidha account for receiving salary.

SALARY/SUVIDHA ACCOUNTS ARE OPENED ON ZERO BALANCE BASIS, it is malafied intention of Citi Bank to impose charges for not maintaining minimum balance of Rs.25000/- pm from the month of non-transferring of salary. This is against the interest of employees whose accounts were openend for purpose of transfer of salary. Why CITI BANK has not asked to the undersigned in writing for continuing said account, if salary has stopped to be transferred in said account? The undersinged has never received anything in writing about this.

This account is inoperative and dead for the undersigned for many years. Citi Bank is unnecesarily imposing charges. The liability shown by Citi Bank is against employees for whom account were opened for transfer of salary. Till date the undersigned has never availed any suvidh etc. from CITI BANK to pay such imposed liability. Without intimating the undersigned, Citi Bank has started to show liability against me.

As per reply dated 22.03.2010 (AnnexureB1) of head customer care,who says, Our records indicate that your account was converted to suvidha individual account on September 25, 2006 as there was no salary credit for a considerable period of time. The average monthly minimum balance to be maintained in a Suvidha individual account is Rs.25,000.00. The non maintenance of the requisite balance for any month would attract a service fee of Rs.250.00.

I am to say that salary account for all staff members of India Export House Pv. Limited were opened on zero balance and it is the prerogative of company to transfer salary on time or till desired time. If company has stopped to transfer salary in Citi bank, the burden cannot be put on sincere employees. Can an employee whose salary is less than Rs.10000 be expected to maintain minimum monthly balance of Rs.25000/-. Why Citi bank has not sought written consent of the undersigned to continue said account? This is unjustified, illegal and unconstitutional to impose monthly charges without properly informing customer. It is unfair trade practice.

Citi bank is unconstitutinally maintaining said account and imposing charges? The undersinged was having salary account till company was transferring salary on time. This is against ethicks to convert nature of account without properly soughting consent o[censored]ndersigned in writing on knowing that salary has stopped to transfer in said account. I am feeling mental agony for such situation created by Citi Bank.

Plese go through below mentioned annexures:-
1. MAIL DATED 15.03.10 SENT TO CUSTOMER CARE (ANNEXURE-A)
2. REPLY Dt. 16.03.10 RECEIVED FROM [protected]@CITI.COM (ANNEXURE-A1)

3.MAIL DT.16.03.10 SENT TO HEAD CUSTOMER(ANNEXURE-B)
4.REPLY DT. 22.03.10 RECEIVED FROM HEAD CUSTOMER CARE(ANNEXURE-B1)

5.MAIL DT. 23.03.10 SENT TO NODAL GRIEVANCE OFFICER(ANNEXURE-C)
6.REPLY DT. 25.03.10 RECEIVED FROM NODAL GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL OFFFICER (ANNEXURE-C1)



In view of the above, I request your forumf to please help me by closure of Salary Account No.[protected] without paying any liability (which has been imposed illegally). I hope this mail will provide me justice.


(SUSHMA KANDPAL)
SALARY ACCOUNT No. [protected]



CITI BANK BRANCH ADDRESS:-
Jeevan Bharati Builiding, 124, Connaught Circus, New Delhi 110 001
Tel: +[protected]

24 Hour Citiphone Lines : (Delhi[protected], [protected]
================================================================
REPLY DT. 25.03.10 RECEIVED FROM NODAL GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL OFFFICER (ANNEXURE-C1)
Citibank Reference No.=[protected]
Dear Mrs. Kandpal,

This is with reference to your e-mail dated March 23, 2010 addressed to our Grievance Redressal Officer.

We regret the fact that you have had a cause of complaint and apologize for any inconvenience caused.

We confirm the Suvidha Corporate Account will be converted into Suvidha Individual Account, if the salary is not credited into the account.

Our records indicate that there was no salary being credited into your account for a considerable period of time.

If salary has not been credited into customer's account for a quarter or more, an intimation with regard to closing / converting the account will be sent to the mailing address maintained in our records.

Accordingly, a letter has been sent to your mailing address maintained in our records.

As we are not in receipt of any confirmation from your end, your account has been converted into Suvidha Individual 5K Account on September 25, 2006.

Further, the requisite balance was not maintained in your account, service fee has been charged to your account.

This service fee is applicable to all our customers. Hence we regret our inability to reverse the same.

Further, we understand that you choose to close your account.

Our records indicate that, your Ready Credit Account as an outstanding balance of Rs.1,352.14.

Please note that you will not be able to close your suvidha account , if your RCA is in outstanding balance.

Should you choose to settle your RCA, we request to contact our collections officers at the address as stated in our earlier mail.

You can also deposit sufficient funds, to regularize your RCA.

Once your account has been regularized, please send a written instruction signed by the account holder(s) mentioning your 10-digit account number to any of the addresses mentioned below:

If sent by post :

Citibank N.A
P O Box # 4830
Anna Road Post Office
Chennai 600 002

If sent through courier :

Citibank, N. A Mail Room
No 2, Club House Road
Chennai 600 002

On receipt of your instruction, we will process your request.

Any inconvenience caused in this regard is regretted.

We assure you of our best attention at all times.

Sincerely,

Anjana Makkar
Grievance Redressal Officer

==============================================================
MAIL DT. 23.03.10 SENT TO NODAL GRIEVANCE OFFICER(ANNEXURE-C)


Respected Ms.Anjana Makkar (Grievance Redressal Officer),

Your head customer has not resolved my complaint to the satisfaction o[censored]ndersigned. I am simply requesting for closure of said account and customer head is suggested me to contact collection officer. Why i pay for the situation created by your irresponsible bank.

I am to say that this account was opened by India Export House (P) Limited, D-5, Sector-8, Noida to transfer salary. Such salary accounts were opened for all employees of this Company. In good faith, the undersinged was constrained to have such account with your bank without going through any details. You have openened this salary account under suvidha account for receiving salary.

As already stated, SALARY/SUVIDHA ACCOUNTS OPENED ON ZERO BALANCE BASIS, it is malafied intention of your bank to impose such charges. This is against the interest of employees whose accounts were openend for purpose of transfer of salary. Why your bank has not asked to the undersigned in writing for continuing said account, if salary has stopped to be transferred in said account?

This account is inoperative and dead for the undersigned for many years. Your bank is unnecesarily imposing charges. The liability shown by your bank is against employees for whom account was opened for transfer of salary. Till date the undersigned has never availed any suvidh etc. from your bank to pay such imposed liability. Without intimating the undersigned, your bank has started to show liability against me.

As per reply dated 22.03.2010 of head customer care,who says, Our records indicate that your account was converted to suvidha individual account on September 25, 2006 as there was no salary credit for a considerable period of time. The average monthly minimum balance to be maintained in a Suvidha individual account is Rs.25,000.00. The non maintenance of the requisite balance for any month would attract a service fee of Rs.250.00.

I am to say that salary account for all staff members of India Export House Pv. Limited were opened on zero balance and it is the prerogative of company to transfer salary on time or till desired time. If company has stopped to transfer salary in your bank, the burden cannot be put on sincere employees. Can an employee whose salary is less than Rs.10000 be expected to maintain minimum monthly balance of Rs.25000/-. Why your bank has not sought written consent of the undersigned to continue said account? This is unjustified, illegal and unconstitutional to impose monthly charges without properly informing customer. It is unfair trade practice.

Your bank is unconstitutinally maintaining undesired account and imposing charges? The undersinged was having salary account till company was transferring salary on time. This is against ethicks to convert nature of account without properly soughting consent o[censored]ndersigned in writing on knowing that salary has stopped to transfer in said account. I am feeling mental agony for such situation created by your bank.

I request you to immediately close this account otherwise I shall not have any liability towards your bank. This is your bank's responsibility to close this account and the undersinged has no role to play to contact collection officer as suggested by your customer head.

In view of the above, I hope you may be able to understand my concern and will direct to your bank to close immediately this account without demanding for paying any liability. I hope this mail will provide me justice.

(SUSHMA KANDPAL)
SALARY ACCOUNT No. [protected]
===============================================================


REPLY DT. 22.03.10 RECEIVED FROM HEAD CUSTOMER CARE(ANNEXURE-B1)


--- On Mon, 22/3/10, Head Customer Care <head.[protected]@citi.com> wrote:



Dear Mrs. Kandpal,
This is with reference to your e-mail dated March 17, 2010 addressed to Head Customer Care.

We regret the delay in responding to your query.

We would like to express our deep sense of regret for the feeling of dissatisfaction you have been left with.

We confirm that, a Suvidha Corporate account will be converted to a Suvidha Individual Account, if salary is not credited to the Corporate account for a considerable period of time.

Our records indicate that your account was converted to suvidha individual account on September 25, 2006 as there was no salary credit for a considerable period of time.

The average monthly minimum balance to be maintained in a Suvidha individual account is Rs.25,000.00. The non maintenance of the requisite balance for any month would attract a service fee of Rs.250.00.

Further, our records indicate that there is an outstanding of Rs.3187.33 in your account as on date.

Should you choose to settle your Ready Credit Account, we request you to contact our Collection Officers at the address mentioned below. Our Officers will be glad to assist you.

TCS e-Serve Ltd.
Home Loan Department,
A-25, 2nd Floor,
Mohan Co-operative Industrial Estate,
Mathura Road,
New Delhi 110044.
Phone:[protected] / 5190 / 5192.

Once you have settled your account and to close your account, please send a written instruction signed by the Account Holder(s), to any of the addresses mentioned below :

If sent by Post:

Citibank N.A,
P O Box # 4830
Anna Road Post Office
Chennai 600 002

If sent by Courier :

Citibank N.A, Mail Room,
No. 2, Club house road,
Chennai 600 002

On receipt of the instruction, we will process your request.

Please revert, if you need further assistance.

We assure you of our best attention at all times.

Sincerely,

S Lakshmi
Manager - Head Customer Care
=====================================================

MAIL DT.16.03.10 SENT TO HEAD CUSTOMER(ANNEXURE-B)



Date: Tuesday, 16 March, 2010


I am shocked to receive such reply. This account was opened by India Export House (P) Limited, D-5, Sector-8, Noida to transfer salary. Such salary accounts were opened for all employees of this Company. In good faith, the undersinged was constrained to have such account with your bank without going through any details. You have openened this salary account under suvidha account for receiving salary.

As already stated, SALARY/SUVIDHA ACCOUNTS OPENED ON ZERO BALANCE BASIS, it is malafied intenTION of your bank to impose such charges. This is against the interest of eployees whose accounts were openend for purpose of transfer of salary.

This account is inoperative and dead for the undersigned for many years. Your bank is unnecesarily imposing charges. The liability shown by your bank is against employees for whom account was opened for transfer of salary. Till date the undersigned has never availed any suvidh etc. from your bank to pay such imposed liability.


In view of the above, I request you to place my complaint before higher authority to close immediately this account without demanding for paying any liability. I hope you will do the needful.

I am pasting herewith my complaint dated 15.03.2010 for your perusal:-

Respected Sir,

Once upon a time, your bank had opened salary accounts for staff of of India Export House Pvt. Limited, D-5, Sector-8, Noida. I was also having one such Salary A/c No. [protected]. Since a long time, same account has been inoperative for me. I am shoked to receive computer-generated statement wherein a liability of Rs.2514.45 is shown against such salary account. As salary account is opened on zero balance and as the same is non-operative and dead account for the undersigned, it is unjustified to charge any amount. Your bank must have either freeze or close said account as the same has been inactive for many years. It is unfair trade practice to get monetary gain by imposing liabilities on salary/inoperative account.

In view of the above, close the said account immediately without imposing and showing any liability against the undersigned.

I hope for positive response otherwise I shall be constrained to approach Bank’s Ombudsman.


(SUSHMA KANDPAL)

Salary A/c No. [protected]

================================================================

REPLY Dt. 16.03.10 RECEIVED FROM [protected]@CITI.COM (ANNEXURE-A1)


Dear Mrs. Kandpal,

This is with reference to your email dated March 15, 2010.

We regret the fact that you have had a cause of complaint and apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Our records indicate that, as on date your Ready Credit account ending with number 3221 reflecting outstanding balance of Rs. 1,352.14 and your Suvidha Individual account reflecting a debit balance of Rs. 1,835.19.

We request you to clear aforesaid outstanding balance, to close your Suvidha account.

You could clear the outstanding in the Ready Credit Account:

1) By transferring funds online from Suvidha Account to Ready Credit Account.

2) By depositing cheque or cash in your Ready Credit Account.

3) By contacting our 24 Hours CitiPhone Banking.

Once you cleared aforesaid outstanding balance, we request you to send a written instruction signed by the account holder(s), mentioning your ten digit account number, along with the unused cheque leaves and ATM card broken into pieces, to any of the addresses mentioned below:

If sent through ordinary post :

Citibank N.A,
P O Box # 4830
Anna Road Post Office
Chennai 600 002

If sent through Courier :

Citibank, N. A Mail Room
No 2, Club House Road
Chennai 600 002.

On receipt of the instruction, we will process your request.

Any inconvenience caused in this regard is regretted.

Your relationship is very important to us and we look forward to your continued patronage.

We assure you of our best attention at all times.

Sincerely,

Jayasri B
Customer Care Officer

==================================================
MAIL DATED 15.03.10 SENT TO CUSTOMER CARE (ANNEXURE-A)

Respected Sir,


Once upon a time, your bank had opened salary accounts for staff of of India Export House Pvt. Limited, D-5, Sector-8, Noida. I was also having one such Salary A/c No. [protected]. Since a long time, same account has been inoperative for me. I am shoked to receive computer-generated statement wherein a liability of Rs.2514.45 is shown against such salary account. As salary account is opened on zero balance and as the same is non-operative and dead account for the undersigned, it is unjustified to charge any amount. Your bank must have either freeze or close said account as the same has been inactive for many years. It is unfair trade practice to get monetary gain by imposing liabilities on salary/inoperative account.

In view of the above, close the said account immediately without imposing and showing any liability against the undersigned.

I hope for positive response otherwise I shall be constrained to approach Bank’s Ombudsman.


(SUSHMA KANDPAL)

Salary A/c No. [protected]