It may happen that while you were using the bank ATM to withdraw cash, money was deducted from your bank account but was not dispensed by the ATM. In such a scenario, how long does it takes to get the money back into your bank account?
According to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) rules, if an ATM cash withdrawal transaction has failed although the bank account was debited, banks have to automatically reverse the deducted money within T+5 days maximum.
However, a bank will have to pay compensation if they do not auto- reverse the money for a failed transaction within T+5 days. The compensation of Rs 100 per day is payable for default in auto- reversal of money debited. The compensation is calculated from T+5 days till the time money is deposited back into the account. (T is the transaction date).
However, an individual must inform the bank about money wrongly deducted from the account to avoid any issues in the future.
One of the first things that an individual should do is note down the ATM machine number (this can be found prominently displayed on the front of the ATM) and safely keep the ATM transaction slip (if it is given out). After that, an individual should contact their own bank's customer care and tell them details about the incident. The incident must be reported to the bank branch as soon as possible.
An individual can also file a complaint by visiting their own bank's branch (home or non--home).
What if bank refuses to acknowledge wrong debit
It may happen that the bank does not accept that an individual has not received money from ATM. There is a three-tier authority where the individual can approach to get the money back.
Bank Internal Ombudsman: An individual can first approach the bank's internal ombudsman if the bank does not reverse the wrongly debited amount within the specified time period. Every bank has an internal ombudsman office and dedicated officer. The individual can contact the nodal officer of their bank's internal ombudsman to file a complaint against the bank. The list of the officers appointed for the internal ombudsman, phone number, email ID and the address of the internal ombudsman office (city- specific address) is available on every bank's website. Some banks have an online internal ombudsman process while in some banks it is offline.
"A customer of the bank may raise a complaint with the card issuing bank's internal ombudsman. Further, the customer is also entitled to get the compensation for the delayed refund for such failed transactions if they are not auto reversed within stipulated time," says Sony A, SGM and Chief Information Officer, South Indian Bank.
RBI's ombudsman: If the individual is not satisfied with the responses of the bank's internal ombudsman, they can approach the RBI's ombudsman system. The RBI has a dedicated online ombudsman website and also appointed RBI ombudsman officers whom individuals can approach physically. Individuals can file the complaint using either of the options.
According to RBI FAQs on the ombudsman scheme, "The customer can approach his/her bank and take up the matter with them. If the customer is not satisfied with the reply of the bank or in case of non-receipt of a reply from the bank within 30 days, the customer can take recourse to the Reserve Bank - Integrated Ombudsman Scheme."
Consumer redressal mechanism: It may happen that a customer is not satisfied with the RBI's response as well. An individual can approach the consumer court to resolve the dispute. However, the customer must get certain proof to prove that money has not been received by them but was debited from the bank.
Says Manmeet Kaur, Partner, Karanjawala & Co, a law firm, "Before approaching any competent court or consumer forum for initiating legal action against the bank, the some of the following evidence/things must be gathered/done:
- A copy of the complaint that must be lodged with the card-issuing bank as soon as the incident occurs must be preserved.
- Correspondences with the officials of the Bank informing of the incident/status of refund.
- An individual may formally request the bank for the CCTV footage of ATM for the relevant time.
- Statement of Account to show that the money was debited from the account of the complainant.
- Any other proofs or copy of ledgers regarding the failed ATM transaction, if possible, should be tried to be gathered.
- Copy of the text message/email received from the Bank notifying withdrawal of the amount from the ATM."
A customer can go to the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) office and file a complaint. This can be done online also by visiting this link: https://edaakhil.nic.in.
According to K. Srinivas, MD & CEO, India1 Payments, one of India's largest white label ATM provider, there are multiple ledgers that record an ATM transaction. It is only when an ATM transaction has the same status in all the ledgers the transaction is considered successful.
The different ledgers used to record an ATM transaction are maintained by Acquirer, Issuer, card network and Electronic Journal (EJ) of the ATM. The acquirer is the ATM operator which can be a bank or any white-label ATM provider. Issuer is the bank which issued the card. Card network is VISA/Mastercard/RuPay/ others. An Electronic Journal (EJ) is a ledger maintained by the software of the respective ATM.
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