Ludhiana consumer panel orders HDFC Bank to unfreeze account blocked since 2023 over Rs 2,038 fraud alert

The complainant had been maintaining a salary savings account with HDFC Bank since 2017 and was also using the account for payment of loan instalments to various financial institutions.

According to the complaint, he maintained sufficient balance in the account for payment of the instalments. However, when the instalments were not debited and penal charges were imposed, he approached the bank and learnt that his account had been frozen.

HDFC Bank, in its reply, stated that the account had been blocked following detection of a fraudulent transaction by the Cyber Crime police station, Surat City, Gujarat. It maintained that the account was blocked on the instructions of the Gujarat police authorities and denied any deficiency in service.

During the proceedings, the complainant maintained that the disputed transaction was genuine and represented repayment of a loan by a person who had earlier borrowed money from him. The bank’s reply referred to a total disputed amount of Rs 2,038.

The commission observed that the complainant had been deprived of the use of his account since October 2023 over the small disputed amount. It noted that he had explained the transaction and requested the bank to take up the matter with the Cyber Crime police station, Surat, but the bank instead waited for the enforcement agency to revoke the freeze.

The commission further observed that there was nothing on record to show that any prior notice had been served upon the complainant. The alleged notice was neither accompanied by an FIR nor did it name the complainant as an accused in the preliminary investigation. The commission held that, at the most, the bank could have imposed a partial lien proportionate to Rs 2,038 instead of blocking the entire account.

Relying on recent judgments of the Punjab and Haryana High Court cited in the order, the commission held that continued freezing of the entire account in such circumstances was arbitrary and disproportionate.

The bank has been directed to unfreeze the account immediately upon receipt of the order. Failure to do so would attract Rs 500 per day from the date of the order till actual compliance, subject to a maximum of Rs 1 lakh. The Rs 25,000 compensation and costs are to be paid within 30 days.