Debt Solution Blog

Here you can find different solutions to get you where you want to be debt free. Here, you might just find your ultimate solution to debt.by Praveen RaoA sleek plastic card in your wallet you think you have got the freedom to travel to striking locations, do shopping till you want, enjoy exotic delicacies, etc. But reality is just the opposite if you do not use your credit card carefully. To sell gold, silver and platinum

A sleek plastic card in your wallet you think you have got the freedom to travel to striking locations, do shopping till you want, enjoy exotic delicacies, etc. But reality is just the opposite if you do not use your credit card carefully. To sell gold, silver and platinum credit cards companies portray luxurious lifestyle with all type of goodies.

People while using their credit cards does not pay much attention and the result is when you return after enjoying holiday suite or shopping extravaganza, a bill of big amount follows you. One more mistake people generally make is not keeping track of their spending so there are chances that you might pay more than the actual spent amount. Hence to make you aware about the possible fraudulent activities of credit card issuing banks and NBFCs, here are some points to be taken into consideration to safeguard yourself from and to deal with them.

Most of the time people don’t know that they are being victimized by the credit card issuing banks or NBFCs. For this you must remember that no bank can issue a credit card forcibly in your name. But in the recent times many people have faced this problem. Banks have issued credit cards to individuals without their consent and due to the ignorance on the individual’s part, had to pay hefty amount to the banks.

The most troubling factor for the credit card holder is the interest rates. Some of the card holders have found that when they were issued a card at 0% interest, after the initial period of say few months banks start charging interest. Then banks or NBFCs without any prior information increase interest rates in some cases. Although banks have been given the discretion to make changes but after receiving complaints regarding increase in interest rates with informing the card holders the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has formulated norms stating that the total annual percentage rate cannot be more than 30%.

The most common excuse the credit card companies often use is the late payment especially when the interest begins to increase on all unpaid balance. This problem is commonly faced by those people who put their cheques into drop-boxes on the due date of the payment because there is no system to mark the date on which the cheque has been deposited.

Recently some of the banks have introduced a new concept of charging the people for not using their credit cards. Then there are some credit card issuers who give insurance covers on credit cards, might adopt new methods. For example a credit card issuing bank who offers an insurance cover on the unpaid balance, initially had promised to pay the premium. But after three months, the premium was charged to the credit card holder.

The list of unfair practices adopted by the credit card issuing banks or NBFCs is endless. The points mentioned above are just like a pinch of salt, as means of multiple defrauding on a regular basis goes on. Conceding with this, the RBI had issued fresh guidelines on the credit card operations of banks in 2008.

According to industry experts if a bank is using a misleading or false proclamation to sell their product for instance it promises to offer a free service and then charge for it, this is unfair practice. Besides bank withholds any information regarding interest rate or payments is an offense. Banks should be transparent especially with their terms and conditions. However the RBI has issued norms that the banks should print terms and conditions in a size that is easy to read and should be easy to understand.

Whenever you find anything wrong with regard to credit card transactions, the foremost thing you should do is to send a written application to the head of the concerned branch of the card issuing bank. This way you will be able to maintain a record of the incident.

All the banks now days have a dispute redressal forum. In case you are registering a complaint on the phone, with you note the name of the person whom you are speaking to along with time and date of the conversation. If bank does not take any action on the complaint within a month time period, then you can approach the banking ombudsmen appointed by the RBI and lodge a complaint. If then also your complaint is not acknowledged then you have the option to appeal to the consumer court. But in court the process is quite long and complicated so there are chances of delay in the hearing of the case.

To be on the safe side you have to be careful. In case you get a call from bank who wants to sell their product on the phone whether it is a credit card, insurance or loan, etc. you must ask the person to sent the booklet containing all the important features, schemes, terms and conditions, etc related to the product and the application form. In case you agree to take a credit card file all the term and conditions papers, and other papers having important information about the product. At the time of issuing a card banks executives make some verbal promises, get those promises in writing from them so that you have them as proof in case of any dispute.

The most important thing to remember is to fill the application form yourself. Then last but not least do R&D for the best bank or NBFC before finalizing the particular credit card company.

Rupeetimes.com offers the best information about credit cards, home loan, personal loan, auto loan and education loan in India. Also find some great Emi Calculators to calculate the exact installments to pay monthly

Tags: Credit Card Debt Solution, Debt Advice.