State Bank Of India [SBI] — sbi online: transfer to wrong account done by the online system

Address:

CROSS ROAD 2, ANDHERI LOKHANDWALA COMPLEX, Mumbai City, Maharashtra, 400053

The said complaint pertains to erroneous transfer of Rs.40, 000/- from my account by the bank on 16 February 2019 to the account of one Mr.Dinendra Mishra, instead of my father Mr. Suryakant Pandurang Sane, to whom it was intended to be transferred. It’s been more than four months since the said erroneous transfer. Since then I’ve been running from pillar to post to recover the said monies which have been lost due to error of the bank. I am getting feeling as though my complaint and constant follow-up on this critical issue is going to deaf ears.

The. Relevant facts pertaining to erroneous transfer by the bank are briefly set out below

I intended to transfer a sum of Rs.40, 000/- to my father‘s account on 16 February 2019. In this regard I had requested for adding my father Mr. Suryakant Pandurang Sane account number [protected] asa beneficiary. Pursuant to the said request, Mr. Suryakant Pandurang Sane was added as a beneficiary. The screenshot showing the said account number and name of the account holder Mr. Suryakant Pandurang Sane is again attached for ease of reference.

Therefore, under belief that Mr. Sane is added as a beneficiary, I requested for transfer of Rs.40, 000/- to the said account of Mr. Suryakant Pandurang Sane. I am currently in Spain and at the time of the said transfer also I was in Spain. After few days I enquired with my father whether the monies were received by him. When I realised that though my account had been debited with the sum of Rs.40, 000/- the said money never reached the bank account of my father Mr. Suryakant Pandurang Sane. On further enquiries I realised that the said money was wrongly transferred to the account of one Mr.Dinendra Mishra located in a town of Madya Pradesh. It is clear that there has been a gross error on the part of the bank either in creating the beneficiary or whilst transferring the said monies. It appears that both Mr. Suryakant Pandurang Sane and the said Mr.Dinendra Mishra have the same account number but with different banks.

Thereafter,

I made several online complaints requesting resolution of the issue which are briefly discussed below :

1. Complaint Reference:[protected] (2nd March 2019) - This was closed without clear investigation, wrongly concluding that the transfer was completed correctly.

2. Complaint Reference:[protected] (19th March 2019) – Again this complaint was not successfully closed. Resolution/response by bank support was: "We request you to kindly contact the branch regarding this issue. We regret for the inconvenience caused". In view of the said response and the fact that the complaint was not yet resolved,

I was not left with any option but to submit a written complaint to the bank as required. Accordingly, I through my sister submitted the complaint letter dated 1st April 2019 along with transaction information screen snapshot on 3rd April 2019 to the branch manager.

The branch manager then reviewed the letter and the transaction information and agreed prima facie of suspected online transaction error. My sister who handed over the letter was assured of prompt action. The manager candidly also gave an impression that such erroneous transactions were occurring after SBI merger with the state banks. After the submission of the said written complaint, more particularly in view of the fact that such erroneous transactions/transfers were not new and was known within the system, I felt assured that the said transaction will be reversed, and/or the necessary remedial steps will be taken by the bank so as to replenish my Rs.40, 000. However, to my surprise, After submission of my complaint there was no communication on the progress of banks analysis or any basic response towards it.

My sister has since then visited twice again to the branch office.
During the visit on 25th April 2019, Branch Manager was not available on the said day in the office but my sister was helped by a Sr. bank officer Mrs. Shobha Yadav, with the status and progress of the complaint.
The Sr. bank officer mentioned,
1. A notice has been sent to Mr. Dinendra Mishra (SBI client to whose account the system wrongly transferred my money), asking to refund the amount.
2. She also mentioned, there have been multiple such cases where online transfer happened to wrong accounts after the SBI merger with other State Banks due to duplicate account numbers.
3. She had called Mr. Dinendra Mishra in presence of my sister and explained him the ramification o[censored]sing the money that was wrongly transferred to one’s account. He was warned of Cibil report impact and challenges that will be faced by him in case of loan management through financial institution. It is understood from her that Mr. Dinendra Mishra has agreed to deposit the money in 1st week of May.

Since no progress was made in relation to the complaint, on 12 June 2019 my sister once again visited the branch

On the said date my sister met branch manager Ms. Aditi Dubey. I was able to speak with the bank manager on a WhatsApp call coordinated by my sister.
As discussed with Ms. Aditi Dubey, she confirmed to provide a detailed response on how the bank will help unwind the erroneous transfer and refund my money.

Again almost 10 days have passed since the said visit, but I have not heard back from the bank officers nor have I received my monies. I have been loyal bank customer for almost 20 years. I have been using net banking since several years and have transferred using the NEFT facility to various beneficiaries on number of occasions. Hence, I reliably chose to transfer my hard-earned money to my father through your bank system. However, I am deeply disheartened and anguished due to the gross error committed by the bank and the loss caused to me. What is more astonishing is the fact that many more such erroneous transactions/transfers are occurring within the system. However, there is no real desire on the banks part to address the situation.