State Bank has received a number of representations from
the banks’ account holders/customers complaining
that banks have started imposing certain premium/charges
under the head “insurance covers” on their
consumer products, viz., credit cards, Debit/ATM cards,
etc without obtaining prior consent in writing from them.
2.
The matter has been examined and it has been decided that
henceforth no bank/DFI shall charge any amount under the
head of “insurance premium” (by what so ever
name called) without obtaining the consent of each existing
& prospective customer in writing. In addition to
obtaining consent in writing, the banks/DFIs may also
use the following modes for obtaining prior consent of
their customers provided proper record is maintained by
banks/DFIs:-
3.
Any
violation or circumvention of the above instructions will
attract penal action under provisions of BCO, 1962. State
Bank will also check compliance with the above instructions
during regular inspection of banks/DFIs.