Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006 (Amended 2017) in its Chapter 4 (8-Grounds of Complaint) (r) states “forced closure of deposit accounts without due notice or without sufficient reason” as a circumstance for redressal of grievance. Vikram Joshi (name changed) turned blind when he was 3 years old as a reaction to a medication he was taking. But his ambitions and hard work never stopped him from taking the less trodden path to success in life. He did his Post-Graduation from Ferguson College, Mumbai in the English Language. Though he tried for public sector jobs he was unsuccessful in finding one. Thus, he mobilized his self-belief and confidence to start a self-employment venture. He had a Savings Account in Axis Bank where he applied for a bank loan to start a self-employed venture. This was when he got to know he was in a difficult situation with his savings bank account frozen and monetary excesses accrued by exceeding his credit card limit. The Bank took freezing of his Savings Account as a corrective measure to this circumstance and this information was retained for a period of three months between his account freeze and Vikram seeking a bank loan.
There is a clear retention of information in this case by the bank but will that serve as a sufficient reason in closing his account is a question to moot but doing it without notice is not justifying the act. Vikram’s requests for allocating some time to pay back the excess sum has been responded to rudely and his loan application was put on hold till he paid back the excess sum. His account was held frozen till the aforesaid condition was met by Vikram. This was when Vikram contacted Eyeway.
Eyeway Counselor shared the RBI and IBA circulars which explain resolutions for such circumstances. We also shared with him the contact of Rajesh Asudani, RBI Nagpur Office who in turn advised him to approach the Axis Bank head office in Mumbai. At the head office, he received good cooperation and the issue was resolved. He was allotted time to repay the excess sum. He later chose to withdraw the loan application from Axis Bank. He applied in SBI and received the loan promptly. Using the money he could start an agro-agency selling agricultural seeds, saplings, fertilizers etc. He is running the agency successfully and also plans to start new ventures for more economic gain.