Aur bhi gum hai jamane mein Credit Card ke shiway - (PART 1)

Credit Card!!! Plastic money!!!. Flash it anywhere anytime. Visa Power. There is something money can't buy, everything else there is MasterCard.

Now a days we all use credit cards. Most of us opt for loan for buying anything ranging from home to washing machine. But while doing all this have we ever imagined how we can get trapped into a fraud.

Recently I applied for my first loan from Axis Bank. I thought I have a good financial record. Modest salary to repay my EMI. I was almost confident I will get an approval. I use only two credit cards. For which I have not paid any interest to bank. As I pay all my dues on time. Smart na.....

But not so smart. Bank after completing all verification and KYC (Know your customers norms) contacted me. I will not name anyone here but the employees of AXIS BANK were very helpful. I will not hesitate to contact them again in future. Professional ethics which is rare.
I was told I have a overdue of 3L +. Thud....................

I got a big shock. When did I took a loan of this amount? May be in my previous life. But that time there was no credit card or personal loan or auto loan or consumer loan. I suppose so. But even if that's possible was my name same as in this life or PAN number was same? May be I will have to go to NDTV Imagine new reality show "RAAZ - Pichhle Janam Ka".

But question is how come 3L overdue? Then I got to know. I am having

- 22 Credit cards from different banks.
- 1 Auto loan.
- 2 Personal loans

I never knew I am so wealthy that I can have this much cash flow. I didn't get sleep for 2 days. When I told this to my parents. They were worried too. Too many questions came in my mind .....

- No bank will give me loan now. So I cannot buy a home or a car unless until I have full amount.
- What will I do if all credit card lenders start running after me for dues which I have not taken?
- What if these fraudsters do any unlawful activity using those credit cards?
- What if recovery agents start harassing me?
- What if one day I find police at my door for non of my faults?

But at last I thought just thinking is not going to help me. I will have to act. So I started looking on Internet how to get out of it. And what I found is I am not alone there are numbers of cases like this. And bank & government is doing nothing. So sooner you act sooner you get out of it.

First question is - How it happened?

We provide our PAN card photocopies / Address as proofs to different institutions. i.e. To banks for new account, for new telephone connections, for new credit card. Most of the time collection of documents is outsourced to some private organizations. We call them DSA (Direct selling agents). Sometimes verification is also outsourced. A person comes up for document collection. We never hesitate to hand him over the document and cheques. Hardly we enquire about their "I" card. Most of these DSAs have no professional ethics. They are only concerned with numbers. They will go extra miles to get the work done at any cost. This attitude leads to frauds. If someone close to him asks for a loan/ credit card. And that person is not capable of getting loan / credit card at his own. These DSA will reuse your document with false address proof to get his/her credit card / loan sanctioned. Banks also do not bother to check if photographs matching.

Sometimes even some bank employees are also involved in this nexus. But the numbers are few. Once you get a credit card in your name. Second bank will offer you credit card just on the basis on first credit card. Without bothering to check the authenticity of the person applying.

Modern technology also comes to help for these people. A PAN card photocopy can be scanned and photograph / PAN no can be changed using Photoshop or similar software. Then a colored printout can be taken. This printouts will be more authentic than our black & white photocopies of PAN card.

How to avoid these situations?

I am a victim so it's true I have not followed it in past but certainly I will follow these in future. It's also true you cannot fully avoid these situation as most of the things are not in our hand.

- Don't trust any DSA. Deal directly with banks. It means you will have to take few off from office but it's worth.
- Banks don't take DSA seriously. They treat them like anything. So If your loan is not approved, in most of the cases DSA are not provided with reason.
- When you provide any proofs. Do sign and write the reason whom you are giving these documents. Put date, sign across, write purpose / bank name.
- Get your CIBIL report before you apply for any loan. And check your status. How you can get your CIBIL report is mentioned in this article.
- I will also suggest get your CIBIL report every 6 month or 1 year. To get to know if any wrong entry is there. Shell out 142 rupees every time you ask for a report. But its worth till RBI or government do something regarding this.
- Last but not the least don't use credit card, don't take any loan. :-)

Well now question arises how come these data is maintained in public domain?
There is an organization called CIBIL - Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited

Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL) was incorporated in 2000. CIBIL’s aim is to fulfill the need of credit granting institutions for comprehensive credit information by collecting, collating and disseminating credit information pertaining to both commercial and consumer borrowers, to a closed user group of Members. Banks, Financial Institutions, Non Banking Financial Companies, Housing Finance Companies and Credit Card Companies use CIBIL’s services. Data sharing is based on the Principle of Reciprocity, which means that only Members who have submitted all their credit data, may access Credit Information Reports from CIBIL. The relationship between CIBIL and its Members is that of close interdependence.



More question on CIBIL can be answered on this link http://www.cibil.com/faqs.htm

CIBIL is not a clean organization. This organization is created by banks and they have a backing of RBI and all banks. Even for wrong information you cannot complain about CIBIL. They will not delete your wrong info. Only banks will have to inform them to correct your record. But by that time you might have already paid the price for this.

The disclaimer in CIBIL reports : All information contained in this credit report has been collected by Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited ("CIBIL") based on information provided by its various members ("Members"). Consequently CIBIL disclaims any and all responsibility on accuracy, completeness, and veracity of any and all such information provided. The information is current and up to date to such extent as provided by its Members. Any information contained herein does not reflect the views of CIBIL or its directors or employees. The use of this report is governed by the terms and conditions of the Operating Rules for CIBIL and its members.

My comments on disclaimer : So they are not responsible for making a honest taxpayer's life hell. Even if they put crap in report they are not responsible for not allowing you to buy a home or a car which you deserve. Even members who are owners of CIBIL say I am not responsible.

My Suggestion : Make CIBIL information online but secure. So that anybody can check their report anytime. If CIBIL needs money for its directors to fly business class. A citizen like us would not hesitate to pay a nominal annual amount to get access to CIBIL reports online. Or start a SMS alert to registered mobile no. So that people will know whenever there will be request for any new loan or credit card against their PAN no. And the customer will be alerted against any fraudulent transaction. This will solve lots of hassle for million of people.

How as an individual I can access my CIBIL report?
Till September 2009. CIBIL information was only available to financial institutions and its members. But now government has forced CIBIL to provide reports to individuals. We can have our CIBIL report for just 142.00 Rs. There are different ways you can have your report.

You can now access your Credit Information Report (CIR) directly from CIBIL. As you may be aware, your CIBIL CIR is a factual record of your credit payment history compiled from information received from credit granters. The purpose is to help credit granters make informed lending decisions - quickly and objectively, and enable faster processing of your credit applications to help provide you speedier access to credit at better terms. You can request for a copy of your CIBIL CIR in three quick steps through Email, Mail or Fax: http://www.cibil.com/accesscredit.htm

Download CIR request form from - http://www.cibil.com/pdf/Consumer_Disclosure_Form.pdf

Email: myreport@cibil.com
Email the CIR Request Form duly filled in
Mail self attested hard copies of your latest Identity Proof and Address Proof documents and Fees to P.O.BOX 17, Millennium Business Park, Navi Mumbai- 400710
Once CIBIL receives the documents and Fees, your request will be processed and copy of your CIR will be dispatched to you.


Letter: Address*
Write to CIBIL with the CIR Request Form duly filled in
Mail self attested hard copies of your latest Identity Proof and Address Proof documents and Fees to P.O.BOX 17, Millennium Business Park, Navi Mumbai- 400710
Once CIBIL receives the documents and Fees, your request will be processed and copy of your CIR will be dispatched to you.

Fax: 022-40789007
Fax CIBIL the CIR Request Form duly filled in
Mail self attested hard copies of your latest Identity Proof and Address Proof documents and Fees to P.O.BOX 17, Millennium Business Park, Navi Mumbai- 400710
Once CIBIL receives the documents and Fees, your request will be processed and copy of your CIR will be dispatched to you.

1. Valid Identity Proof: PAN Card/ Passport/ Voters ID (Mail self attested hard copy of any one of these Identity Proofs)
2. Valid Address Proof: Bank Account Statement/ Electricity Bill/ Telephone bill (Mail self attested hard copy of any one of these Address Proofs)

3. Payment terms: Demand Draft (DD) of Rs 142/- (inclusive of all taxes and express delivery charge) , in favour of Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited payable at Mumbai


All your correspondence to CIBIL must be sent through Indian Post only

I have just applied for a CIBIL report and waiting for it.

What should be my next action?

Once I get my report I will have to contact each lenders or say banks to correct the data. I will have to tell each and every bank that I am the actual owner of the so called PAN No. And so called loan / credit card is not mine. I will have to ask them to block the credit cards initiate a fresh verification. Now its banks duty to get the CIBIL record corrected. Which banks don't do normally.
If I don't get satisfactory reply from banks, I will have to contact bank ombudsman India. After that I can contact consumer forum.

This article is meant for all readers for creating awareness. So you don't get into this mess.

This article will continue and I will let you know how I came out of it clean and stronger than before...............

Do let me know if anyone of you have come across this kind of situation. And how you handled it.

Aur bhi gum hai jamane mein Credit Card ke shiway - (PART 2).

Aur bhi gum hai jamane mein Credit Card ke shiway - (PART 3)