Banking: Prashant Joshi

My bank has raised the fee applicable on certain services. Also, recently they charged me a fine for not doing any transactions in a particular month. While opening the account, I was informed of all charges. But banks seem to change rules according to their whims and fancies and not inform the account-holders. In such cases when the consumer remains uninformed, is there a possibility that we can complain to the Ombudsman?
According to the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India, banks can revise charges on all their services. However, banks should inform all customers by giving a month’s notice before the new charges come into effect. In case you have not been informed through letter, email or any other form of communication about the change in service charges and these charges have been levied on services provided to you, contact your branch manager. If the resolution is not to your satisfaction, within 30 days you can approach the Banking Ombudsman.

I am 33, and going to Singapore for 16 months on official purposes. I have a fixed deposit and savings account with a reputed public sector bank. Does it make sense to hold the account and deposits until I come back?
Since you are travelling outside India for work-related purposes for more than six months, your residential status will change from resident to non-resident Indian during this period. With the change in residential status, the status of your bank accounts will also need to be changed. Some banks in India provide the facility of re-designating your resident savings account into a Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) account, where the account number does not change. Your bank will normally allow you to continue your fixed deposits under the present status till maturity and then ask you to either book the maturity amount under the non-resident category or re-designate it.

I want to file a complaint against a bank for its negligence. How do I approach the Banking Ombudsman? Kindly explain the process.
First, you need to go through the Customer Grievance Redressal process of the bank for redressal of your complaint. If you are not satisfied with the redressal offered by the bank, you can raise a complaint through the website of the Banking Ombudsman or by sending an email or letter to the latter. The Ombudsman, after analysing the complaint and the response provided by the bank, disposes the complaint by issuing suitable orders/instructions.

I plan to take an education loan for my son, who has taken his examination for higher studies, though the admissions are yet to get finalised. Should I wait before applying for the loan, as I hear loans are likely to get cheaper?
I suggest not to wait for the mid-term policy review to avail an education loan if the process for admissions has already started. The interest rates on education loans are quite competitive and are 12-14 per cent per annum.

The writer is MD & head, private & business clients (India), Deutsche Bank. The views expressed are his own.
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