Citibank — unfair banking practices by citibank credit cards

Address:

Bangalore, Karnataka

Hi,

This is to bring to your kind attention of some unfair banking practices that i am being subjected to by citibank. I have been holding a savings account with citibank for the past 18 years and unfortunately this is the first time i am experiencing this kind of a service.

Two months back, one fine morning, i realized my account was hacked and a number o[censored]nauthorized transactions were being made on my credit card. I immediately reported the problem and blocked the card. I was told that the old card was blocked and i would be sent a new card in place of that. I also got the new card as promised. However, the unauthorized transactions didn't stop. Even today i am getting notifications for some transactions being made on the old card despite having reported it two months back and blocking the card. I understand they might be allowing the hacker to do this to catch him but what i don't understand is that if they are doing it for a reason that should be at their own risk and cost and not mine. I am charged for all these transactions and i have got a statement for rs. 5, 80, 967.83 this month. Most of the transactions are unauthorized. Going another step ahead, they have charged me an interest of rs. 25, 236.36. What is this for? I informed on call and on email multiple times that i would pay the full amount as soon as this issue is resolved. Moreover, i have given a standing instruction to debit full statement amount every month. They didn't debit the full statement amount last month. They deducted only the minimum amount to be paid. I was hoping that at least by this month the issues would be resolved so i could pay the real outstanding from my side. They went ahead and debited all the amount available in my savings account, i. E. Rs. 2, 81, 237.7, which is wrong and fraudulent. I am okay with that because my outstanding is more than that. But this month's statement includes all unauthorized transactions that were done even after my request to block the card and the confirmation of the same from their side. I have lost all trust with citibank after this. I requested them to close all my relationships with them right away and let me know the final amount to be settled by me after reversing all the unauthorized transactions. I will pay it immediately and close the accounts. But looks like they will only have to pay me because they have deducted more than due. Also, please note that when they are doing reversals they shouldn't credit a lesser amount than the transaction amount, which is what they have done in case of all reversals done so far. It's unethical and unfair by any standard. I emailed this to their head of customer care and copied banking ombudsman for further action. I will write to banking ombudsman separately with more details.

Also, please note that the bank has also authorized some third party agencies to follow up with me for payment. They have been charging me for transactions not made by me despite multiple reminders and have now started using agencies to harass me to make a payment, which is not really due from my side fully. This is harassment and criminal offence. I am looking for advise on possible legal actions that i could initiate against the bank. I have requested banking ombudsman to order an immediate inquiry into this case from their side as well so that the bank realizes what they are doing. I have generally had a good experience in the past whenever i approached them. I hope it happens this time as well. I would appreciate any help that you can provide on this. Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Bharathiraja r