Man shares OTP with fraudsters; consumer court says he can't blame bank for losing money
Mumbai (PTI): A consumer commission has dismissed a complaint filed by a Mumbai resident who lost over Rs 1.25 lakh to an online scam, noting that he himself had shared a One-Time Password (OTP) with fraudsters and the bank can not be blamed in such a situation.
District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Suburban) comprising president Pradeep Kadu and member Gauri M Kapse, in the order last month, accepted that the complainant had fallen prey to a fraud.
But, "RBI clearly specifies that if the loss is due to negligence by the customer, the entire loss is to be borne by the customer himself," said the commission.
As per the complainant, while trying to renew his Netflix subscription in January 2022, he clicked on a link received in his email. Not realising that the email had not come from Netflix, he clicked on it, and filled in his card details and an OTP received from HDFC Bank. Seconds later, he received an SMS from the bank confirming a transaction of Rs 1,25,665.
The subscription amount was only Rs 799. He realised that he had been the victim of a cyber scam, and immediately contacted the bank as well as the cyber cell of police.
The bank closed his complaint, with comments '"we observe that the aforesaid transaction was incurred on a secure mode post validating OTP which is confidential and known only to the card holder".
Not satisfied with the HDFC Bank's response, the complainant approached the consumer commission, arguing that the illegal withdrawal of money was due to the bank's negligence and there was a deficiency in its service.
The bank argued that the complainant himself had clicked on a fraudulent link, and an OTP was generated as all details matched his credentials.
There was no reason for the bank to decline the transaction, it said.
The commission in its order acknowledged that a fraud had taken place, but pointed out that the complainant had himself shared "confidential credentials" (OTP) with fraudsters.
Reserve Bank's guidelines in this regard clearly specify that if a loss is due to negligence of the customer, "the entire loss is to be borne by customer himself," it added.
Hence, there was no "deficiency in service" on the bank's part, the consumer commission said.
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Telangana CM urges Amit Shah to increase sanctioned strength of IPS officers in state
Hyderabad (PTI): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi on Wednesday night and urged him to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state in view of its growing administrative and security needs.
The two leaders also discussed the recent surrender of several senior Maoist leaders before the Telangana Police and other issues.
"During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the issue of Maoist surrenders and their rehabilitation. The chief minister informed Shah that significant improvements in policing have taken place in Telangana over the past two years," an official release here said.
Highlighting that 591 Maoists have laid down their arms and joined the mainstream of society during this period, the chief minister said the state government was providing them compensation and rehabilitation assistance as per the rules.
He requested the Union home minister to extend financial support from the central government for development works in the backward regions of the state.
Reddy also urged Shah to increase the sanctioned strength of IPS officers to the state from 83 to 105 in line with the state's growing administrative and security needs, the statement said.
The first cadre review after the formation of Telangana was conducted in 2016, while the next review, due in 2021, was delayed and finally carried out in 2025. Even then, only seven additional IPS officers were allocated to the state, the chief minister informed Shah and requested that the third cadre review be conducted in 2026 as per the schedule.
Reddy explained that Telangana, like the rest of the country, is facing several modern challenges, including cybercrime, drug trafficking, white-collar crimes, and other emerging security threats.
He highlighted the reorganisation of the Hyderabad, Cyberabad, and Malkajgiri Police Commissionerates, the proposed formation of the Future City Commissionerate and the rapidly growing population in Hyderabad to underline the increasing administrative requirements of the state.
