Banks slow in reversing ghost debiting at ATMs

What ifyou insert your debit card in an ATM for cash withdrawal, but the cash does notget disbursed -- and yet your bank account stands debited? According to aReserve Bank of India directive, banks must reimburse such wrongly debitedamount within 12 working days. In reality, though, the process usually takeslonger if you use the card at a bank other than yours.According asenior banking ombudsman official, "Sticking to the 12-day deadline becomedifficult because there are two banks involved here. Reimbursement may take upto three weeks.'' Importantly, adds the official, the amount does not getautomatically recredited; the customer must first log acomplaint.Freeing of automated teller machines -- since April,customers are allowed to draw cash from all ATMs across banks at no extra charge-- has seen a rise in two problems. One, delayed reimbursement of wronglydebited amounts. Two, rejection of a card at the ATM of another bank because itssoftware fails to recognise the `foreign' card. A senior Mumbaibanker, however, assures, "Initial glitches would be smoothened out once bankschange their software (to meet the new requirements).According toSanjeev Talwar, banking advisor at the Delhi-headquartered National ConsumerHelpline, the problems were intense during April when ATMs were freed up. Whilesenior bankers in Mumbai and Delhi say they aren't as severe anymore, they areyet not eliminated. The consumer-friendly February circular onreimbursement from RBI, which pre-dates freeing of ATMs in April, says, "...wehave been receiving a number of complaints from bank customers, regarding debitof accounts even though the ATMs have not disbursed cash for various reasons.More importantly, banks take considerable time in reimbursing the amountsinvolved in such failed transactions to card holders. In many cases, the timetaken is as much as 50 days.''The ombudsman official says to meetRBI-mandated deadline, "We have asked nodal officers of each bank to work inclose cooperation with others to allow for quicker reimbursement.''Bankers say faulty ATM transactions could involve connectivityproblems. The ombudsman official says, "When a card is physically present in theATM, the churn of printing roll is generated, and when there is any transaction,it hits a switch centre and reconcilation of the transaction takes place. Ifthese two proofs are produced, it shows the transaction actually took place.''Now, in cases where money is not dispensed, the official adds, "We rely on thecash reconcilation statement. Every day or two, the cash which has been putinside the ATM is tallied with what has been actually dispensed. If cash doesn'tcome out, surplus money would be found in the statement. We take a decision (ina dispute) based on these three things.''Those customers who have towait longer than 12 days are advised to approach RBI's customer care departmentwith their grouse.