BANKING TROUBLE:
MEET OMBUDSMAN
* A banking ombudsman resolves complaints filed by customers about their dealings with banks
* The banking ombudsman for Maharashtra and Goa is R Sebastian
* She can be reached at C/o RBI, 4th floor, opp Mumbai Central Railway Station, Byculla, Mumbai or at 022-23022025
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SECURITY AT ATMs:
RBI HAS NO SAY
* The RBI gives general guidelines to banks in terms of maintaining ATMs
* But it is not mandatory for banks to follow these rules
* Therefore, the task of making ATM transactions secure is left to banks
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THE GOAN NETWORK
An ATM Dena Bank in Panaji was hacked last week using card skimmers and spy camera to steal data and passwords, while an ATM at ICICI bank, Porvorim was also broken into in an identical fashion, causing a total loss of over Rs 13 lakhs to account holders.
Account holders can breathe easy as respective banks are liable to compensate account-holders in the event of a fraud.
Jaikish, general manager at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s office in Panaji said, “In an event of a fraud, it is the responsibility of a bank to compensate the customer. Besides, it is not a customer’s fault given the way money was stolen in recent ATM incidents in Goa. In case of any trouble in getting their money back, customers can always go to higher authorities within a bank.”
Higher authorities are mostly the business heads of western region or top managements of banks, who are based out of Mumbai, in most cases.
The account holders who have lost their money can also approach ‘Banking Ombudsman’. A banking ombudsman is an authority created by the central government to listen to and resolve complaints filed by customers about their dealings with banks.
The banking ombudsman for Maharashtra and Goa is R Sebastian, who is also based out of Mumbai. She can be reached at C/o Reserve Bank of India, 4th floor, opposite Mumbai Central Railway Station, Byculla, Mumbai or by even calling at 022-23022025.
Making sure that ATM transactions are safe isn’t an easy job for a bank. All ATMs have a CCTV camera installed. But, not all ATMs have a security guard. In short, there is always a risk element while using an ATM.
Given that, it is important for people to make sure that no person or device like camera is recording them when they are using an ATM machine.
The RBI gives general guidelines to banks in terms of maintaining ATMs, but it is not mandatory for banks to follow these rules. This is because RBI is an apex body for financial and administrative matters of banks. And, the task of making ATM transactions secure is left to banks and then to the police.
