Court Directs ICICI Bank to Credit Reward Points for his Amazon Purchase and to pay Rs. 77K as Compensation.

[iNokia]

Aaj ka hone se kya hua tum late ho 🤭

Abhishek bhai only topper in rupay card posts.
Yeh Visa card mein slow ho jate hai.

 

[dvader]

Hi Guys,

As I have always said, use your powers as citizens of this country. I know it's an uphill battle but even Filing a basic FIR and attaching it in a mail has worked for me for a few small cases.

Now do remember that for any personal dispute (assuming it's not a large amount), it would cost ICICI/any big company more in lawyer fees than to just ignore it, not appear in court, and pay 75k. My Veteran Grand Dad always says; that the first step to winning a battle is to be on the battlefield and in a few cases that's the last step too.

Use the courts for small personal disputes, 80% of the time the big organization wouldn't even respond to the summon(s) and the case goes in your favor.

Either way, I love the sweet smell of justice in the morning.

 

[Pankhuri]

I sent this thread to him and asked to fight. He said, nai ho payega mujhse... (jokes a part)
He fought over email, call but ICICI did not agree to unblock the card and release reward points..

Tell him that he would get extra compensation too.

 

[dvader]

Situation Right Now:

Oh, Karma!!! Thou art a heartless bit*h 😅

My two cents though: Duplicate posts are inevitable no matter what cuz not everyone perceives a piece of news in the same context as others and no one can search all the sections all the time. So, if duplicate threads are found, moderators should mention the same on the thread along with the link to the sister thread and close the thread with less engagement for further comments or let both continue if both threads are engaging (up to their discretion). We are all humans, we all have families and jobs, we all make mistakes.

 

[ssnthegenius]

Case:
In an interesting legal dispute, ICICI Bank was recently mandated to compensate a customer from Chennai who was denied reward points. Following the customer's fight, the bank awarded Rs 41,691 in reward points and an additional Rs 35,000 for service deficiency. This ruling underscores consumers' entitlement to seek compensation for subpar services.

Facts of the Case:
The dispute arose when D Sylvester Arokiaraj made a jewelry purchase worth Rs 8.89 lakh on Amazon using his ICICI credit card in March 2021. According to the online retailer's offer, Arokiaraj was entitled to receive 41,961 reward points, equivalent to Rs 41,961. However, these points were not reflected in his monthly bank statement.

Despite Arokiaraj's repeated complaints, ICICI Bank failed to provide a satisfactory explanation. Two weeks later, his credit card was unexpectedly blocked without prior notice. Arokiaraj then filed a petition with the District (Kancheepuram) Consumer Disputes Grievance Redressal Commission, asserting that the transaction was purely for personal use and did not result in any outstanding payment default.

In response to the petition, ICICI Bank informed Arokiaraj that the card was blocked and reward points were withheld because the purchase was categorized as 'business or commercial' use. The bank contended that gold purchases on Amazon were not eligible for rewards. However, Arokiaraj argued before the commission that the transaction was indeed for personal use and did not violate any terms.

Decision of the Court:
After the bank's lack of response to subsequent complaints and failure to appear before the commission, the commission decided to address Arokiaraj's complaint and ordered ICICI Bank to compensate him for the denied reward points and the inconvenience caused. In total, the bank was directed to pay Rs 76,691 as compensation.

Why district consumer grievance redressal? And not RBI banking ombudsman? Can anyone explain? @Abhishek012

 

[ssnthegenius]

Case:
In an interesting legal dispute, ICICI Bank was recently mandated to compensate a customer from Chennai who was denied reward points. Following the customer's fight, the bank awarded Rs 41,691 in reward points and an additional Rs 35,000 for service deficiency. This ruling underscores consumers' entitlement to seek compensation for subpar services.

Facts of the Case:
The dispute arose when D Sylvester Arokiaraj made a jewelry purchase worth Rs 8.89 lakh on Amazon using his ICICI credit card in March 2021. According to the online retailer's offer, Arokiaraj was entitled to receive 41,961 reward points, equivalent to Rs 41,961. However, these points were not reflected in his monthly bank statement.

Despite Arokiaraj's repeated complaints, ICICI Bank failed to provide a satisfactory explanation. Two weeks later, his credit card was unexpectedly blocked without prior notice. Arokiaraj then filed a petition with the District (Kancheepuram) Consumer Disputes Grievance Redressal Commission, asserting that the transaction was purely for personal use and did not result in any outstanding payment default.

In response to the petition, ICICI Bank informed Arokiaraj that the card was blocked and reward points were withheld because the purchase was categorized as 'business or commercial' use. The bank contended that gold purchases on Amazon were not eligible for rewards. However, Arokiaraj argued before the commission that the transaction was indeed for personal use and did not violate any terms.

Decision of the Court:
After the bank's lack of response to subsequent complaints and failure to appear before the commission, the commission decided to address Arokiaraj's complaint and ordered ICICI Bank to compensate him for the denied reward points and the inconvenience caused. In total, the bank was directed to pay Rs 76,691 as compensation.

I have said it before and saying it again. ICICI is the WORST bank of India.

 

[CosmicCat]

I have said it before and saying it again. ICICI is the WORST bank of India.

True that. I've read more negative reviews for ICICI than HDFC online. Even personally, my dad's experience wasn't so great, especially with his home branch, which is located in a Tier-1 city. The only thing ICICI is praised for, is the availability of options that can be done online.

 

[dvader]

I have said it before and saying it again. ICICI is the WORST bank of India.

This is always subjective. A friend of mine by the grace of god has found a great Axis branch nearby, I mean they actually go out of the way to help him (and it's not like he has a lot of money with them) they even came to his house for collecting some low-value cheques. I didn't believe him until one fine day I happened to meet the banker at his house, I jokingly told him "Bhai tm log axis se hi ho na?". Anyway point is everything is subjective, just see what's good for you and always be vigilant. Similarly, I have two ICICI accounts in two different branches. Night and Day diff between the two. The whole point of opening the second account was my sheer luck when I found a great branch in one of the corners of my city.

As to your question of Ombd or Court. RBI is a regulating authority and therefore it can not issue judgments or summons (it can issue notices and circulars).. Technically I can challenge RBI in court (YesBank AT1 bond plaintiff sued RBI, YesBank, and dozens of govt bodies and won in Bombay High Court). Look at any RBI notice/circular, RBI will always cite the law along with the appropriate section before issuing any notice. RBI ombudsman will never take reward points seriously cuz that doesn't pertain to money no matter how you put it. The issuing bank will just cite some internal rules (totally arbitrary) and promise to credit the rewards points subject to an internal audit after which RBI will close the complaint citing ("No regulating concerns or No deficiency observed"). Rewards points are almost always never a regulatory concern.

It's always recommended to go to RBI ombud for Credit Card Fee-related issues cuz they pertain to money and banks actually feel the Bamboo's girth.

 

[CosmicCat]

Case:
In an interesting legal dispute, ICICI Bank was recently mandated to compensate a customer from Chennai who was denied reward points. Following the customer's fight, the bank awarded Rs 41,691 in reward points and an additional Rs 35,000 for service deficiency. This ruling underscores consumers' entitlement to seek compensation for subpar services.

Facts of the Case:
The dispute arose when D Sylvester Arokiaraj made a jewelry purchase worth Rs 8.89 lakh on Amazon using his ICICI credit card in March 2021. According to the online retailer's offer, Arokiaraj was entitled to receive 41,961 reward points, equivalent to Rs 41,961. However, these points were not reflected in his monthly bank statement.

Despite Arokiaraj's repeated complaints, ICICI Bank failed to provide a satisfactory explanation. Two weeks later, his credit card was unexpectedly blocked without prior notice. Arokiaraj then filed a petition with the District (Kancheepuram) Consumer Disputes Grievance Redressal Commission, asserting that the transaction was purely for personal use and did not result in any outstanding payment default.

In response to the petition, ICICI Bank informed Arokiaraj that the card was blocked and reward points were withheld because the purchase was categorized as 'business or commercial' use. The bank contended that gold purchases on Amazon were not eligible for rewards. However, Arokiaraj argued before the commission that the transaction was indeed for personal use and did not violate any terms.

Decision of the Court:
After the bank's lack of response to subsequent complaints and failure to appear before the commission, the commission decided to address Arokiaraj's complaint and ordered ICICI Bank to compensate him for the denied reward points and the inconvenience caused. In total, the bank was directed to pay Rs 76,691 as compensation.

Now it makes me anxious. I got the ICICI Amazon Pay credit card in August, and this month, I've spent more than ₹95K — wherein I've made two big purchases of large appliances for personal use. And the total number of transactions are around 30+, mostly done on Amazon during the Great Indian Sale.

The total cashback amount I've calculated would come around ₹4.2K. Now I'm anxious whether they would provide this cashback or not.

 

[dvader]

Now it makes me anxious. I got the ICICI Amazon Pay credit card in August, and this month during the Amazon Great Indian Sale, I've spent more than ₹95K on Amazon — wherein I've made two big purchases of large appliance for personal use. And the total number of transactions are around 30+, mostly done on Amazon.

The total cashback amount I've calculated would come around ₹4.2K. Now I'm anxious whether they would provide this cashback or not.

I have got 5k cashback without any issues. I don't think you have to worry about such an amount. Again, the plaintiff bought 8.5L worth of stuff which should have raised concerns but ICICI should have credited the rewards after some basic checks or just cap the monthly rewards to say 10k and publish it in MITC of the card.

 

[MangoRush]

ICICI should put a limit instead of allowing unlimited

 

[CosmicCat]

ICICI should put a limit instead of allowing unlimited

Hope they don't put an absurd limit like ₹1000 per month or so. 😝

 

[D7162]

Now it makes me anxious. I got the ICICI Amazon Pay credit card in August, and this month, I've spent more than ₹95K — wherein I've made two big purchases of large appliances for personal use. And the total number of transactions are around 30+, mostly done on Amazon during the Great Indian Sale.

The total cashback amount I've calculated would come around ₹4.2K. Now I'm anxious whether they would provide this cashback or not.

Last time couple of years back, CC told me limit is of 10k, or someone mentioned somewhere regarding 8K, 4-5k there wont be any issue

 

[D7162]

ICICI should put a limit instead of allowing unlimited

there is already undisclosed limit, go up to 10k and Tada.. card will be blocked and last reward will be vanished

 

[CosmicCat]

there is already undisclosed limit, go up to 10k and Tada.. card will be blocked and last reward will be vanished

If ₹10,000 is the undisclosed limit, then that means ₹2,00,000 should be the minimum amount for the transaction (Considering it is done on Amazon with a reward rate of 5%.)

So what would happen if I purchase an expensive gadget like an expensive laptop or a phone worth ₹2L? Matlab cashback bhi gaya aur card bhi? That sounds awful if that's true.

 

[D7162]

So what would happen if I purchase an expensive gadget like an expensive laptop or a phone worth ₹2L? Matlab cashback bhi gaya aur card bhi? That sounds awful if that's true.

Buy with 10% discount instead during sale period. SAD but this is only way

 

[COSMOCRAT]

If ₹10,000 is the undisclosed limit, then that means ₹2,00,000 should be the minimum amount for the transaction (Considering it is done on Amazon with a reward rate of 5%.)

So what would happen if I purchase an expensive gadget like an expensive laptop or a phone worth ₹2L? Matlab cashback bhi gaya aur card bhi? That sounds awful if that's true.

They offer limit increases like no tomorrow. But if you actually use it, you suddenly become a bijinuss man in their eyes. 😑

 

[Survivor35]

That's irony, few years back I had to call customer care and inform that I will be swiping card in hometown for jewelry (sisters wedding).

the merchant charged extra 2% rewards dint get credited, only solace was transaction going through (avoided embarrassment in front of family)

aeise Bahut experience he Icici ke saath

 

[CosmicCat]

That's irony, few years back I had to call customer care and inform that I will be swiping card in hometown for jewelry (sisters wedding).

the merchant charged extra 2% rewards dint get credited, only solace was transaction going through (avoided embarrassment in front of family)

aeise Bahut experience he Icici ke saath

Sorry to read about your poor experience. I'll avoid this Amazon Pay card for large expenses then. Thanks for telling about your experiences, folks.

 

[James]

Sorry to read about your poor experience. I'll avoid this Amazon Pay card for large expenses then. Thanks for telling about your experiences, folks.

No, you should do and fight for your right. Meow