[Resolved]  ICICI Bank — misappropriation of money

Address:

Mumbai City, Maharashtra, 400020

1. We hold a current account (No. Xxxxxx) with icici, mumbai branch (Ifsc code icic0000004) in the name of xxxxx for several years now. We have no overdraft or credit facilities.
2. We received a standard auto-generated email on march 31, 2018, requesting submission of kyc documents as a matter of routine verification and we were also informed that we have time till april 30, 2018.
3. The “link” given to check on documents required for kyc does not exist.
4. On april 10, 2018, one of the payees to our cheques informed us that the cheque we had issued to them against the said bank account had been bounced by icici. We were surprised because there were adequate funds in the account to honour the cheque. I requested the payee to ascertain details and revert. They got the reasons for dishonour as “other reasons” and were informed that it was for non-complained of kyc norms by the issuer of the cheque.
5. Please note carefully that the icici bank has given me time till april 30, 2018 to submit the documents and the dishonour occurred before april 10, 2018, less than 10 days after the email. Icici bank did not notify their intention to freeze my account at any point in time, and there was no withdrawal of the deadline given to us, which was over 20 days away.
6. On april 16, 2018, someone named mr xxxxx, called, claiming to be from icici bank, backbay reclamation branch. He informed us that a foreign remittance had been received by icici bank on our behalf. We informed him that we will send them the customary remittance disposal instructions as soon as the standard email comes from icici bank (Icici bank sends us a email with details of remittance seeking our confirmation for purpose/ disposal). Thereupon, mr xxxx went on to tell us that our account is “frozen” both for debits and credits. Needless to say, we reminded him of the icici deadline of april 30, 2018, and the unilateral and illegal bouncing of cheques by icici bank (Without any notice whatsoever), with a further request that the account’s operations be restored immediately.
7. The so-called foreign remittance that is purported to have been received by icici bank on our behalf has not been credited to our account. No email intimating us of the remittance has been received by us. Mr xxxx did not revert on any of the issues raised by us. All cheques issued by us against the account have been bounced by icici bank illegally.
8. Notwithstanding the debit/ credit “freeze” claimed by mr xxxx of icici bank, we note that all direct wire remittances from our customers are being credited against the bank account, whereas the foreign remittance purported to have been received has disappeared into thin air.
9. On april 18, 2018, a detailed email was send to icici bank through routine channels, to which we have not received any satisfactory replies. Icici bank has no explanation why cheques are being bounced in an account which has adequate balances. They have no explanation why the foreign remittance belonging to the customer have been misappropriated by them.
10. You will note that businesses run on credibility. The illegal bouncing of cheques by icici bank has disrupted our operations and tarnished our business image and credibility considerably. Ours is a small business, the kind of business which our hon. Pm talks about with pride almost daily. It also punctures the pm’s lofty claims of ease of doing business in india. Not only do such illegal, arbitrary and unilateral acts by banks such as icici bank impair the impression that is being falsely portrayed by the pm, and condoned by the country’s banking regulator rbi, but also it is sabotaging our business and jeopardising our operations. Please note that statutory payments will also now be affected by the continuing misappropriation of our funds by icici bank. It is indeed quite disgraceful that this bank is also being steered by a senior management which itself is accused of fraudulent transactions, money laundering and corruption. It does appear that this is a pattern in misappropriating monies from honourable customers like ours to aggrandise those working for the bank.