Jagoinvestor
April 4, 2013
Is filing FIR compulsory for issuing duplicate passbook in PSU Banks?
Ayush lost his SBI bank account passbook and faced some issues from SBI bank, which I thought should be shared with others . Here is what happened with him. Read it directly from him (through our jagoinvestor forum)
Hello everyone. I recently lost my SBI savings account passbook unfortunately somewhere in my home. When i approached the branch, they said i need to file an FIR in the nearest Police Station. They said without it they will not issue me a duplicate passbook. When i went to the Police Station, after making me wait for an hour, officers were asking me for a bribe to file an FIR. : ) They were also asking for my complete account and other personal details. I hesitated to disclose any personal details to anyone. I thought i should avoid having an argument with them. So i came back home without filing an FIR. Isn’t it too much to ask for, for just issuing a simple duplicate passbook?
I also have accounts with HDFC and ICICI Bank, one for expenses and the other one for savings and investments. In HDFC Bank, they issue the passbook on the same day in case of loss of passbook. You just have to give a written application to them and its done within few minutes. Now i am thinking of leaving the SBI account dormant after leaving the balance to zero. It is so much of a headache. : ) I only opened the savings account with SBI because they have the best network of ATMs in the country. Is filing FIR in Police Station compulsory for issuing a duplicate passbook?
Is FIR really required to claim the duplicate Passbook Copy ?
The answer is NO .
There is no requirement like that . As soon as I read Ayush question on our forum, I was very clear that SBI employees whom he contacted just didn’t wanted to work and wanted to have an easy day in office, so they misguided him by telling that he needs to have a policy FIR for this, which actually worked ! and Ayush was back to home frustrated, promising himself that enough is enough and he does not want to SBI bank account at all. I feel SBI needs to seriously work on its employees and train them on “Customer Handling” .
Procedure to get the duplicate passbook from bank
The process is as simple as anything . Pattu (very active on our forum) shares
I have lost my SBI passbook twice and got it replaced. There is no such rule. These days they have our photo and signature stored in the computer. So if the account holder turns up and gives a request for new passbook they will have to comply.
Even Naveen shares his parents experience
Let me share my exp with SBH , where both my parents have sb accounts. My father needs passbook entries because he is not comfortable with debit card transactions and not having much knowledge about internet etc… He kept both passbooks at some location and couldn’t recollect where they are. Later, i have been to SBH branch and paid a challan paying slip( below 50 I remember 3yrs back) for both the accounts and submitted receipts to clerk, where i have been told to come at 4 pm later on the same day with both my mom and dad passport size photos…
Passbooks are ready and photos are pasted and stamped with bank seal and submitted to me on the evening itself. I felt happy for the service bcos my parents cant travel long to do this by themselves..
Give them RTI shock !
I had explained earliar how you can use RTI against PSU banks to get any kind of information and that’s exactly I suggested him. I suspect that SBI guy who told him that was not in the mood to work that day and just wants to tell you things which will make sure his work decreases. I would say go to the SBI bank branch and tell that officer that you filed a RTI and put his officer name and asked them that what this officer is telling me is really required or not and RTI reply said that – There is no requirement like that . Demand him to meet bank manager and confirm it.
Finally what happened ?
After we all helped this guy on forum, he went back to bank branch and applied all that we told him. This time it worked and here is what happened –
I went again to the branch and this time the same lady officer who was persistent for filing an FIR said that it is not compulsory. I was amazed by her reply. I also felt angry that i have to make two trips to the bank for this. The lady officer said, i have to talk to the Branch Manager in this regard and if he agrees, she will issue me the duplicate passbook. So i waited for another 1 hour since the Branch Manager was not in his room. When he didn’t came for another 15 minutes, i left for home. So i have to make another trip to the bank. This time i will directly talk to the Branch Manager and if he doesn’t agrees i am done with the bank. I will leave the account dormant after leaving the balance to zero. So much for issuing a simple passbook. : )
What do you think about this incident ? Do you feel PSU banks exploit customers ? Any personal cases ?
Dear sir,
My father (Mr Pem Norbu Sherpa) have an account at SBI Rumtek, branch. Few days earlier he lost his pass book. on request for new pass bool the branch manager asked him for FIR. Request clarify is it necessary to FIR for new pass book, if not then I shall produce the matter in customer court as the branch manager had harass unnecessary the sinior citizen. request clarify at the earliest.
I think its not required. U can file a complaint in consumer court
I want to know more about RTI
Question ?
Hello,
i had salary account in SBI bank Bangalore Branch. Now i have only ATM & pin. i do not have Passbook, cheque book or Internet Banking. i visited my native branch in Belgaum they said “application to transfer account only accepted when you have proof of passbook & they said to visit Bangalore branch where i have bank account.
Could you please tell me is there any way of transferring my account to my native branch from Bangalore without visiting Bangalore branch ??
Hi shrishail
This is very specific query which you should follow up with the concerned authority only. We wont be able to comment on that
Manish
HI EVERY ONE MY QUESTION IS NOT ABOUT GETTING A DUPLICATE PASSBOOK.
I HAVE LOST THE SBI PASSBOOK AND I SEARCHED ALL PLACES WERE EVER I WENT BUT MY BAD LUCK I DIDN’T FOUND IT SO FINALLY I WENT TO MY SBI BANK BRANCH AND INFORMED THEM ALL DETAIL AND THEY JUST ASKED ME TO GIVE 1 REQUESTING LETTER FOR A DUPLICATE PASSBOOK AND SOME CHARGES WILL APPLY FOR GETTING THE SAME OR THEY ASK ME TO OPEN A INTERNET BANKING SO U NO NEED OF DUPLICATE PASSBOOK.
BUT MY WORRIES ARE THE PASSBOOK WHICH I LOST HAVE GOT ALL DETAIL OF MY ADDRESS, AC/NO, MOBILE NO, PHOTOS, TRANSACTIONS DETAILS & THE BALANCE AMOUNT IN MY ACCOUNT. IF MY PASSBOOK REACHED TO WRONG HAND WHAT R THE PROBLEMS I WILL FACE I WAS THINKING VERY MUCH AND GOT CONFUSED. WHAT R THE PROBLEMS IM GOING TO FACE BCOS OF THIS. PLS SOME ONE HELP ME. MYSELF AND MY FAMILY WAS CONFUSED AND WORRIED A LOT
Did you do police complaint for this ?
Dear Sir,
My name is Krishana Kant Chaurasiya , U.P. 64 B 4915 Registration Paper are loss in My VAN Robertsganj – loss my Paper and Registration NO. so please give me permission or accept for new issue Paper from my branch ( Because I have urgent for My VAN )
Hi KrishanaKant
I suggest that you now take the RTI route. You can file the RTI and ask your queries to them. THey are bound to reply you on your queries.
Its a bit long cut, but works well
Manish
Dear Sir,
My name is Krishana Kant Chaurasiya , my Passbook – Bank Account in SBI Robertsganj – account number – 10724782638 loss in my pocket so please issue new pass book in my branch ( Because I have urgent )
i also had a bitter experience with sbi. the branch at neyveli-607802 refused to issue a dd for non account holder. i reported the matter to chennai local head office. no reply was received . then i wrote to mumbai office. no use. finally i appealed to the chennai ombudsman. they said it will not come under jurisdiction of ombudsman. nationalization of banls is a himalayan blunder. private banks are providing better service than nationalized banks.
Hey sabapathy
Thanks for sharing your experience with all of us. It was a great learning.
Manish
Hi,
I would like to share my experience that happened in pretty similar fashion what Ayush had faced. I went to Sbi branch in Odisha where my mother is having her account. She has lost her passbook and wanted to issue for a duplicate one for which the clerical guys urged me to file an FIR in a nearby Police Station. Unaware of the fact i along with my mother went to the Police Station. There we told them about the incident and asked them to register the FIR. The Inspector incharge told us to wait as it would take some time and went to his quarters. Then we told him we will return back after 1 hour. After returning back there was a male constable in front of the gate who told us that Inspector had gone somewhere and will return by evening 4pm(at that time it was around 2:30pm). Waiting for some time there arrives another lady constable …again we inquired about that Inspector…you wont believe what she told us “our Sir is sleeping and often he sleeps in these hours”. I was shocked but i somehow tolerated his ignorance …my mind struck why that male constable lied to me. Then my mother told we will wait till 4pm and if he doesnt come we will come tomorrow. At around 3:30pm that lady constable went to inspector’s quarters to call him. 4pm passed but both didnt show up. Empty handed we returned back home.
2nd day i.e today morning at 11pm we again went to that Police Station. Police inspector along with some constable were standing , then my mother approach them ..they called me and gave me some money and bring one cigarette packet ..which i probably did..and then they told my mother to wait outside and called me inside instead. My instinct told me there’s something fishy going on so i recorded the audio of the full conversation between me and that Inspector.
Fun fact: They asked me to bribe them which i completed denied ..acknowledged by my denial the Inspector got angry and said these lines and i quote ” i cant give the signatures, go and approach an IAS”…….and then i was like WHAT ??????
I told everything about the incredible incidents happened inside to my mother and she told me not to give any money and we again went back home like that.
We ran for 2 days simply did nothing and wasted our valuable time that too my mother ..she is teacher ..she had to take 2days leave for this silly matter. But now that i am having those recordings im a bit confused whether i should put a complaint or not…i was wondering those Police incharge are behaving like mafias..Today it was my day and maybe someday some other guy may face similar situations..and this needs to be stopped in my perspectives.
Suggest me what shall i do next ??
Thank You.
You should report this to someone senior in Police .
oh , im just back home after an incident like this, well it was’nt my passbook ,it was my atm card.
I forgot my atm card pin. They asked to take another atm card. after the argument that i had .why do i need to take another card for a simple thing as my pin.
well at last i had to list to them, but thats not over yet.
i’ve been waiting for my atm card for two weeks now.they told me earlier it would be reaching my house in a week’s time.
If i not getting it home in two days,im done with this lousy bank.
You can generate the PIN by calling to customer care . Why do you need to take another CARD 🙂
Hi
iam looking for a health insurance plan for my family. Husband -age 47, myself -age 38, son – age 18 and daughter- age 14. my company is providing 4 lacs for my family for which rs. 375/month. should i go for a family floater/individual and which co will provide with less premium and have maximum chain of hospitals all over india especially in Mumbai and Kerala. plz help
Yes go for Apollo or Religare
If you are a Public Sector Bank customer, many a bank now offer a Cashless Mediclaim at a very affordable price under tie arrangement with Health insurance company. In Canara Bank , tie up with Apollo Munich with Rs. 12000/- premium approx. and in PNB, tie up with Oriental Insurance with premium of Rs. 6830/- for Rs. 500000/- , almost lowest in Industry, which any private sector bank can’t offer even by ICICI Bank (highly regarded in this forum but charging/cheating so much to their customer)
Dear All,
Best way is to attend SBI AGM at demand poll on all resolution to protest bad incident while getting service with banks.This happens with all inefficient employees in life.
I think bank may not have given reply in writing and hence always go for reply in writing to punish officers.One small complaint against would definitely create problem in lifetime records of that employees for lifetime.
thanks a lot to share that with all of us !
SBI is worst in customer relationship…….
Well personally I feel, the staff in national banks tend to behave in the same way, procrastination is their hobby… If Mr. Ayush would have been strict second time, I hope he would have got the passbooks…. For a gentle push…. He can email all the relevant details along with the names of concerned persons to the customer complaint cell…. along with the action plan he is planning to take.
Hope it works …
Ya,Its good reply.
I had a very bad experience with SBI , where i had an old account nearly 15 yrs old which i opened when i was in school. I rarely withdraw money in that account. Recently, i filled a cheque to withdraw money, they said my signature is not matching. I said this is a old account and my signature has changed over years, i asked them to update with my new signature in my records. The bank official said that its not possible and he asked me to close the account and reopen a new account with the new signature, which came to me as a surprise! I said the bank official that iam not willing to do it , he said either you do that or sign as it as in the old records. Else all my cheques will be rejected he said. I got frustrated and met the bank manager, asked him to show where such process is written. He said that there is no such process and asked me to write a letter with my new signature, which he said he will attach to that account and finally my issue was resolved.
Thanks for sharing your case with us . Its really worrying that SBI employees make their own rules and harass customers
I had some bitter experience when a SBI branch asked me either to open an account with them or deposit my cheque in my own branch. They were not to accept my cheque for depositing. I just wonder what the Core Banking mean for them.
You should have complained to manager or just threaten them for complain to banking ombudsman
I complained through SBI portal. Not good response though.
sarkari 🙂
I also had few issues with SBI one was regarding starting of Internet Banking services at my home branch and another was regarding Loan Account.
I complained to RBI’s Banking Ombudsman for the start of Internet Bnaking and this was done within 15 days… And for Loan Account issue I approached SBI Customer service dept thru – https://www.sbi.co.in/user.htm?action=viewsection&lang=0&id=0,453,14 and the issue was also resolved within 3 days.
May suggest Ayush to contact SBI thru above link… This would surely work!
Thanks for sharing that Pankaj 🙂
Do not leave the account dormant. In the future if they start levying minimum balance fees, then your account will be in negative, and bank will be forced to close it with dues. This will come in your CIBIL report, if the bank reports it along with your KYC details. It will end up affecting your credit score. So Please close the account, and do not keep any loose ends open. Also write a nice letter to the bank/cluster manager, when closing the account, so that they know whats is wrong. Anyways, hope they issue this simple request without any further hassles.
Hi Ashwin
As far as I understand , your cibil report has nothing to do with your credit report . Where did you read that it will affect your cibil ?
I too had an account with SBI. Long back in 2000, I had opened an account with SBI at Bangalore. I moved to Pune and then tried to transferred the account to Pune. I recieved a passbook but I never recieved the ATM pin. I remember running to the bank a number of times for getting the ATM pin. The account was dormant for a long time and I lost the passbook also and do not even remember the account number. But, since then, I think SBI has improved a lot. I like their netbanking facility. Their customer service at the branches at pune have atleast improved. I doubt that this would be the case in semi-urban and rural areas.
Thanks,
Sukanth
Thanks for sharing your case with all of us
SBI employees are really worst ! Even i have very worst experience with one person. They are all above 50 ,you will feel like in an senior citizen ward 🙂 admitted for high BP !
Thanks for sharing your opinion on this
As far as SBI employees go, there seems to be atleast 1 bad apple in every branch and 9 out of 10 times its some cranky old guy or lady not interested in doing any work that causes all the headache for the customers.
In my experience, atleast you can get some work done by SBI employees, other banks like Bank of Baroda or Allahabad Bank have proven to be completely useless to me because their employees know absolutely nothing.
I think this kind of attitude stems from the fact that PSU employees think they are untouchable. They will get to keep their job anyway no matter how bad they perform. So very little incentive is there to provide good service to the customers.
The only saving grace is that more and more banking facilities are being made available online nowadays, so we people can afford to avoid visiting the bank as much as possible.
Leaving account dormant is no solution.
Just close the account if you really want to make a difference to the bank. Do not forget to provide reason of closing as bad service. Do not be afraid of specifying the name of employee you are not happy with.
Thanks for sharing your opinion