HDFC Bank — Non maintenance charges - dormant account

Address:

Gurgaon, Haryana, 122002

Hi,

I had a salary account with hdfc bank (Geetanjali, new delhi) which was created around end of 2009. After changing the company i gradually changed my address and contact no etc over the years. Because of this later on neither could i update my address or phone number online. (Since they needed an address proof) to update the address. Modifying the contact number was also not feasible since it would send an otp on my number registered with the bank to validate the request and i was not using that number anymore. Therefore in[protected] i visited the hdfc bank branch near sahara mall, gurgaon with a bank statement of citibank containing my updated address so that it could be submitted with hdfc and my contact details could be updated with hdfc bank, so that i can request a new debit card and start using the banking services but the guys at the bank were helpful enough to suggest that only a bank statement from citibank would not suffice, it will be required to be attested by citibank to be authentic. After this i left the bank premises with no intent of coming back or using hdfc bank services for near future.

So far i have been receiving the email from hdfc though to pay non maintenance charges which has summed upto rupees 7000 now. I have not used or logged into hdfc bank online services for more than 3-4 years now.
However recently i joined a new company and their banking partner was hdfc so i thought of opening a salary account again with hdfc bank. I also read the recent rbi mandate that banks can't levy charges on dormant accounts for non maintenance of accounts. However since i already had this account, the bank representative told me to first close the earlier account or use the same for salary purposes. I visited the sec 10 a branch today and enquired about the same. The help desk person promptly responded saying that "sir, you have to pay rs 7000 to close this account and then you can have your employer open another one for you" or "you can pay rs 7000 and continue this account after this account is linked as your salary account".
When i mentioned about the rbi mandate, she expressed her ignorance on any such mandates and said, "this is not applied yet. May be this is being planned" you can call the bank helpdesk and get updated information"

So here are my questions.
1. Hdfc as a bank is not synced with rbi mandates or guidelines?

2. By acting naive in such cases, doesn't the bank practice illegitimate and unfair practices - especially as per the hdfc bank interview published in toi, they don't charge customers for non - maintenance of dormant accounts.

3. Shouldn't the staff sitting at the helpdesk with a"may i help you " be actually be more helpful in their attitude towards the customer and be more diligent?

4. Why is my account still open and why am i still receiving bank statement monthly (Which says the balance as zero and not -7000) when i haven't used or logged into the internet banking for more than 3 years now.