[Resolved]  IDBI Bank — IDBI Bank - want to fraud - Blank cheque demand for housing loan EMI payment thru ECS mandate

Address:

Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

I had taken a home loan from IDBI Hyderabad, I have executed a ECS mandate from my Bank ICICI for the payment of EMIs. The IDBI bank is not accepting the ECS and forcing me to give a blank cheque. The ECS was not presented and showing outstanding of the balance in my home loan account. The IDBI bank sent the reminder for the payment of the loan EMI stating the payment can be made thru online from any of the IDBI branches. Accordingly I transfered the money in to IDBI to pay the housing loan EMI. To my surprise in the accounts operative are showin on online abut my saving account and loan accounts but to transfer the amount to pay off the EMI none of the options work 1) saving account to Loan account, 2) to add a payee name and loan account no., 3) to add as third party it does not work. All options closed. For ECS execution they are forcing the customer for a Blank cheque. bank says If I would like to pay the EMI online they dont fecilitate rather insist one more standing instruction. The bank follow a rigid practice of accepting the payments only by 10th of every month. Whereas other banks gives an option for the choosing any of the dates i.e., 10th/15th/25th of every month. Especially employees working in the service sector payments may get paid upto 10th. Many of the instances they present the cheques before the 10th i.e, 7th or 8th of the month. For salairsed people working in the private sector whose paymnts credited by 7th to 10th this will pose a problem he will be a continuous defaulter in the absence of other flexbile date option.

I think forcing the customers for the blank cheques as a security is a thrash and not legal act. It is contrued as a restrictive practice.
In the recent ruling the High Court noted that the NI Act was intended to give more credibility to cheque as a financial instrument; “However, the object was not to provide effective and speedy remedy for recovery of loans,” it said. “Law makers must not have intended or imagined that money lenders or banks would obtain blank or post-dated cheques while sanctioning/disbursing loans as securities and would use them to make debtors/borrowers to repay loan under threat of prosecution and punishment under Section 138 of NI Act,” Justice Borkar held, dismissing the application.
“It is doubtful if provisions of Section 138 attracted to a case in which a blank or post-dated cheque is obtained by a bank or money lender before or while sanctioning or disbursing loan amount as security for the loan,” the judge said.

The act of the bank's forcing for blank cheque for any laons by the public sector banks like IDBI bank in the name of security is simply torturous and unlawful where in said property was already pledged with the banks as a security.

CHANDRA SEKHAR