[Resolved]  Standard Chartered Bank — Incorrect Reporting in CIBIL & Harassment

Address:

Gurgaon, Haryana

Standard Chartered Bank bought a loan portfolio from Amercan Express Bank (a far premier brand than their own) in mid-2008 under which a pool o[censored]nsecured loans were transferred to their asset base. I unfortunately got dragged into becoming (first and hopefully the last time) a Standard Chartered Bank customer. My unsecured loan for an original amount of INR 350,000 got transferred at INR 153,093 as it was in the middle of its overall tenor of 60 months (the loan was disbursed in April 2005).

All 60 post-dated cheques on this account were duly cleared with the exception of a few that were collected on representment/ in-cash as I changed jobs and my salary account changed accordingly. Due to these bounces some penal charges were accumulating on my account (which were mal-intentionally not recovered at the time of emi collection) along with penal interest. I paid the last emi on[protected] and assumed that since charges were neither recovered/ followed-up nor was any statement of account sent to my attention for these outstandings, the account would have been closed. Malicious bank officials/ systems, as they are designed to be, did not send any reminder, statement or made any calls to my attention 10 months after the date of closure, but chose to report this account as 'Written-Off' in my CIBIL. Add to that, they mal-intendedly did not report the measly balance of INR 4957 that was standing as unpaid but the whole INR 153,093 as 'Written Off'.

Upon receiving my CIBIL report, I discovered all these stinking acts and reached out for a resolution. Stomach this - it took them 2 weeks and 9 different 10 min calls from my side to get their collection department to locate my loan and call me back for a resolution. Then I commit to make a payment by noon of a day and they start asking for ridiculuous administrative documents such as "Please submit in writing that you are paying this amount for the said loan account" - they surely live in the dark ages. And when I create a document, sign it and hand over, the clerk has the audacity to turn around and say "Ah sorry this wasn't really required it seems". The cash payment counter is completely clueless on where to credit this payment (my account no. clearly written on the submission receipt). I call up the collection manager - a gentleman called 'Bharat Rawat' and his aide 'Puneet' - they are clueless themselves. Then somehow the payment is accepted and credited to the loan account.

I now request for a turnaround time for an NOC, I am asked to come between 1p-2p the next day to collect the same. This handover is done after a waiting period of 5 damn hours in their DLF office. Standard Chartered Clerks believe that they are the only ones doing a job - the rest of the world can wait in their unwelcoming reception that sports 2 rude guards. When the NOC is finally handed over, the reply to the question "You had committed 1pm, why handing over at 5:30p" is "This is my style, take it or leave it" All this has come to a customer with the ridiculous attitude of 'Bharat Rawat' and his aide 'Puneet'.

I guess Standard Chartered can't do much about this - this is what the brand really represents - 'GIVE OUT TREATMENT TO CUSTOMERS'.