HDFC Bank — Unethical Banking Practice

Address:

Bangalore, Karnataka

Hi, I have been banking with HDFC being a loyal account holder (Cust ID:[protected] for over 2 years. All was well but of lately I realised that my account status went of course. What surprised me was the fact that, for the very first time ever since banking with HDFC my account went to a negative balance to an extent of INR -2914.96. So I called up the phone banking (which is another nightmare getting connected to a human being) for an explaination and I was told that these are applied towards ECS returns ( insufficient funds.) on a standing order that I set up with UNICEF. I was informed to contact the beneficiary to cancel the standing order and check with them on the charges as HDFC would not process waiver/reverse charges. I insisted to look into the matter on reversal of charges and raised a formal complaint and at this stage the balance was approx INR -1600/-. I also got in touch with UNICEF as instructed by the phone banker to cancel by standing order and discovered that this is an ongoing issue particularly with HDFC and no other financial institution UNICEF is associated with, where multiple attempts were made without the consent (written/verbal) of neither the account holder nor the benificiery. I checked by balance again beginning of March 2015 and noticed that its now showing INR -2914.96 so looked into my account details and what really upset me was its again for the same reason and this time there were 4 attempts made in the same month (February 2015). I raised a second complaint with phone banking and I later received a call on 14th March, 2015 from a person named Sukeerti at my local branch (Kanakapura Road, Bangalore) stating these charges are valid and it cannot be reversed however the most she can do is process a waiver on 1 charge and not the entire amount. When I said that I will have to take this matter legally with the governing body and questioned her about the consent she transferred the call to Mr. Nilesh Kamat, Branch Manager at Kanakapura Road, Bangalore not knowing what to do next. Mr. Kamat requested that I visit the branch so that the matter could be resolved amicably so I rushed making my way through the chaotic Bangalore traffic. At the branch Mr. Kamat stated that ECS is an automated process and they would make 3 attempts to debit the amount when there are no funds in the account and offered me an immediate waiver of 50% on the charges and stated that it will reflect in my account in sometime the same day. I would like to know, why on Earth would you make multiple attempts knowing the fact that there are insufficient funds in the account and apply charges unnecessarily. Further more Mr. Kamat requested that I deposit/transfer some funds to ensure the account is back in good shape. I agreed to transfer some funds from my other account as soon as the waiver is processed but to my surprise its been 5 days and I still do not see any waiver. Please look into the matter on utmost priority with regards to processing the reversal of charges. UNICEF is also taking this matter on a strong note with higher channel as this situation has arised in the past with other donor's o[censored]NICEF which is damaging their trust and image. You could reach me on +[protected]. Regards, Very unhappy account holder.