SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL
(Guinness Record Holder & RTI Activist)
(Guinness Record Holder & RTI Activist)
After demonetisation of notes, India will be marching ahead towards a cashless economy by promoting use of credit-cards by eligible persons. But presently there are lot of irregularities and malpractices especially by private-sector banks in respect of credit-cards. Union government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should frame uniform guidelines/interest-rates/penalties/charges etc for all banks issuing credit-cards.
Arguments put by Banks to have extra-ordinary interest-rate to overcome heavy cost in credit-card operation is in itself confessional for giving banks permission to levy ‘hidden charges’ to befool customers. Even credit-card statements are designed in a manner like ‘Minimum Amount Due’ to befool customers that they put themselves in heavy dose of interest-rate. Banks also resort to malpractice by deliberately not sending credit-cards statements to make customers defaulters forcing them to pay heavy interest-dose apart from penalty. Likewise penalty imposed for over-limit use of credit-cards should not be permissible. Instead Banks can refuse payment on crossing limit. It is ridiculous that an over-payment of just rupees 100 may attract heavy-penalty of rupees 500 plus service-tax.
