Banks wash their hands of faulty e-mail, mobile alerts

Banks may boast of providing 24X7 services through mobile and internet banking, but they have decided not to take the blame for any delay and errors in the mobile or e-mail alerts sent to their customers. Ever since the Reserve Bank of India issued its operating guidelines regarding mobile banking transactions to the banks last year, almost all the banks in the country have started the service, as part of which customers also get alerts on their mobile phones for all important transactions. Similarly, internet banking is also growing by leaps and bounds as it saves cost for the banks and also gives the customers anytime-banking service without going to the bank branches or even ATMs. However, banks have now decided that the liability does not lie with them if the customers do not get the mobile or e-mail alerts on time, or if the alerts contain errors and lack accuracy, as they believe it could be due to fault at the end of the mobile, internet and third-party service providers. According to new credit card terms and conditions, being effected by the country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank from October 5, the bank would not be liable for “non-delivery or delayed delivery of alerts, error, loss or distortion in transmission of alerts to the cardholders’’ . Similar terms are being implemented by many other banks as well, while some others have already such clauses in place. “The cardholder acknowledges that the provision of the facility of receiving alerts on mobile phone number of e-mail provided by the cardholder while applying for the credit card facility , is dependent on the infrastructure , connectivity and service providers engaged by ICICI Bank or otherwise,’’ the new clause says.