My credit card bill to be paid by the 10th of Nov was of Rs. 79339.76/-. The due date was Nov 10, 2019, and it was generated on Oct 20th. So, I thought I should pay some of it now... and then I paid Rs. 40,000/- on Oct 26 and then I paid Rs. 29,339/- on Nov 7 and forgot to pay remaining Rs. 10,000/- on the due date, I later paid that too by crediting my account by paying Rs. 14400/- on Nov 15. So, I've paid more than I should have. However, the Axis Bank debited my account by Rs. 4628/- as interest on non-payment of the bill on time... WHAT?? It was shocking and absurd? Later, I came to know that they charge 3.4% p.m. as interest on unpaid amount every time some amount of bill paid... But it is completely unfair because I have paid it before due date and remaining amount on the due date was only 10000/- and then I credited my credit card with remaining amount plus some amount also but they still debited the interest for the whole unpaid amount, while on the due date the remaining amount was only 10000/- and I think should've only deducted the tax on this amount which would have been only Rs. 340/- whereas they deducted for the whole amount that would have been only Rs. 2697/- but they deducted even more amount and there's no explanation for that.
I even called the customer care (which is now paid btw and you may have to wait and waste a lot of time) and the customer care guy understood my issue and said what you're saying is fair we'll refund the amount in 5 days, but they didn't. I called again and this time they said their team will call me in 24-48 Hrs but they didn't and then I chatted on their website. The conversation is below which I saved as pdf from their chat menu. However, for ease of access, I'm pasting the whole conversation below. And decide for yourself, how unfair their policies are. Even this support lady understood my issue but I guess axis bank has a policy of no refund. By their logic, If I had paid my amount in even more segments, my interest they would've deducted may even cross my bill amount.
What I learned from this is that I shouldn't use a single credit card for all transactions and look for in statement if the bank is deducting the unfair interest. I'm not sure if other banks also have such policies or not? If not, I would use that card and not recommend using Axis Bank Credit Card. Their support staff picks call quickly and reaching to them and chatting with them is good though, but what's the use of that if they can't support the customer in their genuine concern.
And if somebody is a lawyer, please file a case against such unfair practices of these banks.
Chat Transcript of Conversation with Axis Bank Support team member Anitha:
Note: Their chat system is buggy, as soon as I used punctuation mark it was closing on me so I had to form my sentences without it. However, It's still legible and understandable easily.
Chat Transcript
ANITHA
Greetings for the day! Welcome to the Axis Bank Credit Card chat support. I am Anitha, how may I assist you?
Me
even though i have paid most of the amount bill before due date
Me
I was charged for the non payment
ANITHA
Let me check.
ANITHA
Debit Interest charges are calculated due to partial payments made or non-receipt of payments towards your Credit Card.
but i have paid about 90 percent of the amount before due date
I should not be charged for the whole amount of bill
ANITHA
If the full payment not received then the debit interest charges will be charged.
The remaining amount was only 10000
Me
you have deducted interest for 79000
ANITHA
The interest rate of 3.40 % p.m is applicable on your credit card whenever there is a part payment made by you for your purchases.
Me
so i should never pay in advance
at the time of due date I had very less amount remaining
Me
ask any person with common sense that will tell that it is unfair
ANITHA
I understand your concern.
Me
What should I do
I am not willing to pay this unfair interest on the bill
ANITHA
I would like to inform you that, interest is calculated basis four rules which are as follows:
Me
when i paid almost all of it
ANITHA
As per the bank policy if you pay partial amount also the debit interest will charge.
ANITHA
1) From transaction date to statement date (on transaction amount) 2) From Statement date till payment date (on outstanding balance) 3) From Payment date till next statement date (on balance amount) 4) From transaction date till the next statement date (fresh transaction)
Me
So what did I do wrong
I should not have done the second payment
Me
So according to you if i pay say 99999 from a bill of 100000
you will charge me for whole 100000
ANITHA
If you make the full payment then there will not be any financial charges will charge.
Me
when the remaining amount is 1 rs
That is utterly wrong and these rules of the bank are wrong as well
ANITHA
As per the bank policy if you pay partial amount also the debit interest will charge.
Me
Me Mam I would like to inform you that this conversation may go in blog and people will decide if the axis bank policies are wrong or not
ANITHA
I understand your concern.
Me
Please look at my previous history regarding my payments of the credit card bills
I have always paid my bills on time and have been a good customer of axis bank
ANITHA
As per the statement dated 20-10-2019 the total amount due is Rs. 79339.76/-, we received the partial payment of Rs. 69339/-.
Me
yeah
that is what i said 10000 was only remaining amount I can pay for tax generated on 10000
not whole amount
ANITHA
We are sorry to inform you that we are unable to reverse the charges.
Me
You are letting down your good customers
I was earlier informed by customer care on phone that the charges will be reversed in 5 days and I waited for 5 days
I called several times on customer care
ANITHA
Reversal is subject to bank approval.
Me
Are you not representative of the bank
ANITHA
Let me check the previous conversation.
ANITHA
Thank you.
Me
have you checked
I called several times
ANITHA
I have checked in our records regarding the reversal.
ANITHA
As per the bank policy the debit interest has been charged towards total outstanding balance and for purchases.
ANITHA
We are sorry to inform you that we are unable to reverse the debit interest charges reversal.
Me
What was the outstanding balance 79000 when I paid 69000
Does bank knows its mathematics or not
How can anyone trust it
ANITHA
The interest rate of 3.40 % p.m is applicable on your credit card whenever there is a part payment made by you for your purchases.
Me
Whatever that mumbo jumbo the bank is doing
it is clearly dumb unfair and utterly wrong practice and implemented by incompetant software engineers
that is very apparent
ANITHA
Kindly cooperate with us.
Me
I am not even able to use punctuations in this chat window also
on my imac
ANITHA
I apologize for the inconvenience caused to you.
Me here... so it is indeed a work of imcompetent software engineers and i have to bear the consequences of it
ANITHA
I do understand, but as per the bank's policy we are unable to reverse the charges.
Me
Any human being with common sense will agree that it is unfair
and even you do
Thank you for understanding that but It is me who is charged for 4000 rupees out of thin air
and no major fault of mine
ANITHA
We are really sorry that we are unable to reverse the charges.
Me
Can you do anything
Me send this issue to someone who can handle these issues so that others do not suffer the same issues
Me
I think many are already suffering without knowing
ANITHA
I will highlight the issue internally. But we can not confirm the reversal will be done.
ANITHA
However, reversal is subject to bank approval.
Me Please log my complaint and do the reversal as I will write a blog post about it soon and will try to aware the public of this issue
ANITHA
I will highlight this issue. Our team will provide you the update on this.
Me
Thank you mam
ANITHA
Is there anything else I could assist you regarding your Credit Card?
Me
No... I would order credit for some other bank and split my transactions if possible
ANITHA
I apologize for the inconvenience caused.
Me Thank you for your understanding... I do hope that you take some action and try to help out a loyal
customer here
ANITHA
Sure. I will highlight the issue internally. But we can not confirm the reversal will be done. Axis Bank Support
Chat session will be closed soon due to inactivity of chat participants. ANITHA
Kindly respond, else the chat will get disconnected due to inactivity.
How much time does it take the bank to respond
for bank to take action regarding this issue
ANITHA
I request you to wait for 03 working days you will get the update.
Me
If any and what should i do here meanwhile
Ok
ANITHA
Is there anything else I could assist you regarding your Credit Card?
Me
Me
No mam
ANITHA
It was a pleasure interacting with you. Thank you for contacting the Axis Bank Credit Card chat support.
Me
same here... thanks
ANITHA
Thank you for choosing the Axis Bank Credit Card.
The chat pdf is available on this dropbox link here: Axis Bank Support: Chat Transcript
If they say that every other bank is also doing this practice then I'll have to say that just because everyone else also doing it doesn't justify it. It's unethical, unfair and utterly absurd practice.
Please do share your experiences and views in the comment section below.
Thanks for reading...