SBI Cards To Pay Damages For Harassing Customer

Setting a precedent of sorts against credit card companies, a consumer court in New Delhi has ordered The State Bank of India credit cards division to compensate its customer for making "obscene calls and sending false bills and demanding payment. This ruling might change the face of credit card industry in India as almost all companies have often been guilty of using unethical recovery mechanisms in the past.

The complainant, Pratibha Sharma, a resident of Darya Ganj here, was issued an SBI credit card in the year 2000 on the condition that the service was free of rent. However the company started levying heavy fees on the card and also charged Sharma for some "purchases" that she had never made.

Subsequently, the complainant decided to cancel the card and went for a final settlement by paying an outstanding amount but much to her surprise, she started receiving obscene calls from recovery agents of the bank's unit asking her to pay a due of Rs 16,737 on the card.

In his ruling, the district Consumer Forum (North) headed by K. K Chopra ordered SBI to pay Rs 20,000 as token compensation to the complainant.