The case of one consumer

The case is of Namrata Pandey, a Chandigarh based education professional, but her story is the story of many other people who write in on egroups and approach the consumer activists and courts with similar problems.

Namrata Pandey says:
“As a part of a scheme, I signed up for the MTV and Citibank card when I was at my head office in Delhi in 2003. It was free for all women as part of the ‘no subscription fee’ offer. I did not receive my card and any communication on this offer on this. I assumed that it was not allotted to me. I moved to Chandigarh in April last year and in Oct 2004, when I was on a vacation in Delhi, I received a call from a Citibank official from Chennai introducing me to Citibank Credit Sheild Plus Scheme (TATA AIG insurance). I asked the lady to first change my address and then send me the details of the scheme as I needed to study it before I agreed to it. She agreed and then there was no communication. I received a letter dated Nov 21 from them a couple of months back, thanking me for joining the scheme. It said, “Referring to our recent conversation, we thank you for agreeing to participate in….”. The letter mentioned that if I did not want the policy I needed to get back to them within 15 days. But I had moved by then and they had not changed my address and so I got the letter in January 2005. My question is that: if I have not signed on any document accepting their scheme how can they enrol me for it? I have received a bill of Rs 1,218.48 charged as premium on the Credit Shield Plus. I need to know why they have charged me for something that I have not agreed to buy?”

Citibank has solved Pandey’s problem. They went back to the recorded conversation with the telemarketing agent and found that Pandy was indeed correct and was billed wrongly for the policy that she did not accept. They have agreed to return twice the billed amount according to the RBI guidelines (that are yet to be implemented). Will Citi (and other banks in a similar situation) do this for all customers is the crucial question now that the guidelines are to be implemented.