Banks not liable if you fall for phone frauds: Consumer forum
1 min read 17 Mar 2021, 07:06 PM ISTBanks have been repeatedly cautioning customers of phone frauds and warning not to share their information with anyone over the phone
PremiumIf a fraudster calls you, obtains information and steals funds, banks are not liable for your loss.
Banks have been repeatedly cautioning customers of phone frauds and warning not to share their information with anyone over the phone. Despite this, if a customer falls victim to such a fraud, banks won't be liable, ruled a consumer forum.
According to media reports, a retired teacher from Amreli district, Kurji Javia, fell prey to such a fraud. He got a fraud call from someone who identified himself as a State Bank of India manager. Javia shared his bank details and lost money.
Javia approached a consumer forum seeking compensation. He said that he called up SBI branch after the money was withdrawn. But got no response. He claimed that the bank could have prevented the fraud.
The consumer forum ruled against this and said that the customer had not followed the cautionary messages that banks send to their customers. The fraud occurred due to the negligence of Javia.
According to Reserve Bank of India's regulations, in cases where the loss is due to customer's negligence, he will have to bear the entire loss until the unauthorised transaction is reported to the bank.
If a deficiency that led to the fraudulent transaction has been found to be on part of the bank, then as a bank customer you do not need to worry at all. The entire loss will be borne by the bank and not by you. Your liability is zero in this case.
In some cases it may so happen that the fault lies within the system and neither the bank nor the customer is at fault. The customer’s liability will be zero if he or she reports it to the bank within three working days of receiving the communication from the bank about the unauthorised transaction.
