:[Experience] Axis Bank Account Freeze – 21 Days of Silence, Escalation, and Compensation

[Mohammad]

Dear Technofino Members,

I’m sharing my recent experience with Axis Bank, where my savings account was frozen for 21 days without proper notice, causing mental stress and inconvenience. After multiple failed follow-ups with Axis Bank, I had to escalate the issue to the RBI Ombudsman — only then did things move quickly.


🔒 Account Freeze Without Timely Intimation


My account was frozen on 7th March 2025 due to what the bank called “suspicious activity”, claiming that my IP address was traced abroad. However, I consider this an insufficient justification — in today’s digital world, customers may access their accounts from different locations, especially for work or travel.


Worse, I was not informed via SMS or email about the freeze until 28th March — a full 21 days later. In that time, I had unknowingly deposited ₹****** into the frozen account, which I couldn’t access.

📡 Be Cautious: Avoid Public Wi-Fi for Net Banking


One key takeaway from this experience:

Never access net banking over public or shared Wi-Fi.
Bank security systems might flag such logins as suspicious and trigger a freeze.


😡 Initial Ignorance by Axis Bank

Before approaching RBI, I:

• Emailed Axis Bank customer care, PNO, and my home branch asking for help.
• Requested VKYC or any digital verification since I was abroad for business and couldn’t visit the branch.

All requests were either ignored or denied.


Even the branch manager did not respond to my mails. The case was simply not taken seriously.


🏛️ Complaint to RBI – Everything Changed in 3 Days
With no support from Axis Bank, I filed a complaint via the RBI CMS Portal.


Within 3 days of the complaint:

• The branch, PNO, and customer care team became active.
• The bank conducted EDD (Enhanced Due Diligence), including a home visit.
• My account was unfrozen on 28th March 2025 with positive verification.

💸 Compensation After Escalation

Initially, the bank rejected all my requests:

• Premium Banking upgrade
• Lifetime Free conversion of my Flipkart Axis Credit Card (ending ****)
• Any monetary compensation

But after persistent follow-up and negotiation with the branch team, Axis Bank agreed to offer ₹3,000 as compensation, which was credited after about 10 working days.




✅ My Advice to Technofino Members:

1. Avoid using public/shared Wi-Fi while logging into banking apps or portals.
2. If your account gets frozen:
   • Ask for a written reason and explore digital KYC options.
   • If denied, escalate immediately via RBI CMS (https://cms.rbi.org.in)
3. Don’t accept silence or delays — you have a right to transparency.
4. Always know your rights as a banking customer.
   If you feel something is unfair, escalate it respectfully and with documentation.

Although the situation caused significant inconvenience, I appreciate that Axis Bank eventually acted — but only after escalation.


Hope my experience helps someone else.
Stay alert, and always demand clarity when banking.

 

[Anupama_Jha]

Nicely written 👏🏻

 

[hender]

My account was frozen on 7th March 2025 due to what the bank called “suspicious activity”, claiming that my IP address was traced abroad. However, I consider this an insufficient justification — in today’s digital world, customers may access their accounts from different locations, especially for work or travel.


Worse, I was not informed via SMS or email about the freeze until 28th March — a full 21 days later. In that time, I had unknowingly deposited ₹****** into the frozen account, which I couldn’t access.

📡 Be Cautious: Avoid Public Wi-Fi for Net Banking


One key takeaway from this experience:

Never access net banking over public or shared Wi-Fi.
Bank security systems might flag such logins as suspicious and trigger a freeze.


😡 Initial Ignorance by Axis Bank

Before approaching RBI, I:

• Emailed Axis Bank customer care, PNO, and my home branch asking for help.
• Requested VKYC or any digital verification since I was abroad for business and couldn’t visit the branch.

All requests were either ignored or denied.


Even the branch manager did not respond to my mails. The case was simply not taken seriously.


🏛️ Complaint to RBI – Everything Changed in 3 Days
With no support from Axis Bank, I filed a complaint via the RBI CMS Portal.


Within 3 days of the complaint:

• The branch, PNO, and customer care team became active.
• The bank conducted EDD (Enhanced Due Diligence), including a home visit.
• My account was unfrozen on 28th March 2025 with positive verification.

💸 Compensation After Escalation

Initially, the bank rejected all my requests:

• Premium Banking upgrade
• Lifetime Free conversion of my Flipkart Axis Credit Card (ending ****)
• Any monetary compensation

But after persistent follow-up and negotiation with the branch team, Axis Bank agreed to offer ₹3,000 as compensation, which was credited after about 10 working days.




✅ My Advice to Technofino Members:

1. Avoid using public/shared Wi-Fi while logging into banking apps or portals.
2. If your account gets frozen:
   • Ask for a written reason and explore digital KYC options.
   • If denied, escalate immediately via RBI CMS (https://cms.rbi.org.in)
3. Don’t accept silence or delays — you have a right to transparency.
4. Always know your rights as a banking customer.
   If you feel something is unfair, escalate it respectfully and with documentation.

Although the situation caused significant inconvenience, I appreciate that Axis Bank eventually acted — but only after escalation.


Hope my experience helps someone else.
Stay alert, and always demand clarity when banking.

1- at that time, you were abroad ?
2- you used public WiFi to access ?
3- Have you Informed/asked bank before going abroad about banking services Operations from Abroad ?
4- It's a simple Saving Account or NRO/NRE account ?

 

[Mohammad]

1- at that time, you were abroad ?
2- you used public WiFi to access ?
3- Have you Informed/asked bank before going abroad about banking services Operations from Abroad ?
4- It's a simple Saving Account or NRO/NRE account ?

at that time, you were abroad - abroad
2- you used public WiFi to access - yes Somtime
3- Have you Informed/asked bank before going abroad about banking services Operations from Abroad - never Informed almost Every 2to 3 months I visit
4- It's a simple Saving Account or NRO/NRE account - Normal Saving Account

 

[hender]

at that time, you were abroad - abroad
2- you used public WiFi to access - yes Somtime
3- Have you Informed/asked bank before going abroad about banking services Operations from Abroad - never Informed almost Every 2to 3 months I visit
4- It's a simple Saving Account or NRO/NRE account - Normal Saving Account

Axis is doing half work, hence got punished !!
What's the use of email/Mob no they have ?🤔

 

[cardy]

Informing bank beforehand that you are a frequent flyer abroad and you need to do transactions from overseas Will save you from automatic system flags.

 

[Mohammad]

Axis is doing half work, hence got punished !!
What's the use of email/Mob no they have ?🤔

All Bank Support Number Only For Basic Help
Always Use email way

 

[Mohammad]

Informing bank beforehand that you are a frequent flyer abroad and you need to do transactions from overseas Will save you from automatic system flags.

More Than 7 Months No Have A Single Transaction Al Time

 

[Mohammad]

Informing bank beforehand that you are a frequent flyer abroad and you need to do transactions from overseas Will save you from automatic system flags.

I use Axis Account Only For Dividends Credits

 

[hender]

All Bank Support Number Only For Basic Help
Always Use email way

It's about your's E-mail ID and Mobile no with bank , if they found unusual/suspicious activity -
In that case also 2 point
1- Just Login only from abroad. Or
2 - Fund transfers attempts outside from the account, from abroad.

Instead of cross-check/verify from Customer or taking consent, they just Frozen the account.

 

[HumorSimpson]

You should have asked for more compensation like 20K

 

[HumorSimpson]

Nicely written 👏🏻

Seems proof read by ai, those emojis give away.

 

[hender]

You should have asked for more compensation like 20K

20k $ or 20k€ 🥳😉

 

[cardy]

I use Axis Account Only For Dividends Credits

Then you need to access this account from India only and avoid access from overseas otherwise automatic flags will result in repeated freeze.

And if you have to access only for a few times still you inform the support team beforehand.

 

[Mohammad]

Absolutely agree with your observation.

In my case, it was exactly as you described —


Just because of abroad IP login, Axis Bank flagged it as “suspicious activity” and froze my account without any prior warning or attempt to verify with me.

There was:

• No fund transfer to foreign countries
• No high-risk transaction
• Not even an OTP misuse

I had no option to clarify or give consent — just a sudden freeze. And even worse, the bank failed to send any SMS/email until 21 days later.

I believe basic courtesy like verification or customer consent (via call/SMS/email) should be done before freezing a fully KYC-compliant account, especially if there’s no actual fraud.

 

[Mohammad]

20k $ or 20k€ 🥳😉

😂😂😂 seriously Bank manager Cry please Sir withdraw RBI complaint

 

[hender]

😂😂😂 seriously Bank manager Cry please Sir withdraw RBI complaint

You were in Middle East or in Europe at that time !
You can ask if you wish so...

 

[Mohammad]

Seems proof read by ai, those emojis give away.

You were in Middle East or in Europe at that time !
You can ask if you wish so...

Yes, at that time I was in the Middle East (Qatar) for a short business-related visit.

 

[hender]

Yes, at that time I was in the Middle East (Qatar) for a short business-related visit.

Qatar Riyal - 23.40 approx, 😉
SBI BOB have good setup outside, just check ✔️, incase it helps you, going forward ⏩

 

[Mohammad]

Qatar Riyal - 23.40 approx, 😉
SBI BOB have good setup outside, just check ✔️, incase it helps you, going forward ⏩

Absolutely! SBI and BoB have a decent international presence, especially in the GCC region. Always good to know which banks can support you globally 🌍