A reader who vacated a private bank locker said the bank deducted the annual locker rent and GST even though auto-debit was not separately authorised. The response notes that locker agreements often allow banks to debit rent from the linked savings account, but deducting it before the due date is a clear error.
Since the locker was closed on April 6 after the new financial year began on April 1, the bank may retain charges for the used period—such as a few days or at least a month—based on its rules. However, the full GST for a year should not be collected when the full year’s service is not provided.
Customers are advised not to rely only on branch-level discussions. A detailed email should be sent to the bank’s principal grievance redressal officer seeking a GST credit note and refund of the excess amount, and if the issue is not resolved within 30 days, a complaint can be filed on the RBI’s CMS portal (https://cms.rbi.org.in/).
In another case, a customer reported an ATM dispute where cash was withdrawn twice but the account was debited three times. The guidance is to submit a written complaint at the branch and, if possible, email the bank’s nodal officer, as formal escalation is often required for resolution.
A separate alert was issued for accounts receiving repeated ₹1 net-banking credits from unknown sources. This can be a “penny drop” test used by fraudsters to verify whether an account is active, capture the account holder’s name and account details via SMS confirmations, or attempt linking the account to UPI/auto-debit for larger unauthorised withdrawals later.
