Saving bank accounts can have lot of hidden charges which most of the times we are not aware of. A few days back one of my friends was looking at his ICICI Bank statement and found 3 consecutive deductions of Rs 28.09 with the description of POSDEC CHG/11-06-14/8833/25ST3. As happens most of the times it’s almost impossible to figure out what this alien description meant!
A little research and asking friends revealed that POSDEC CHG means Point of Sale Decline Charges.
What does this actually mean?
This means you tried using your debit card for paying something at the merchant but the transaction was declined due to insufficient funds in the account.
Also Read: 22 Hidden Charges in Saving Bank Account
But why 3 consecutive deductions?
This is what happens at the merchant side. You gave your debit card for payment. The transaction gets declined but you and the merchant does not know the reason for decline. As most of the times network failure/ wrong pin etc are responsible. So the merchant swipes the card multiple times but every time it’s declined! The unfortunate part ICICI deducts this POSDEC CHG of Rs 28.09 for every swipe! So in my friend’s case it was tried 3 times and hence there are 3 consecutive deductions!
The Complete Story of my Friend and many others!
My friend had gone to his usual departmental store for his regular purchase and gave his ICICI debit card for payment. The problem was he had 2 accounts with ICICI Bank and by mistake he gave the card which did not have sufficient funds. The transaction did not go through the card so he paid by cash and moved on. He only realized his mistake when he got to see these charges after more than a month in his statement! I am sure this can happen to lot many people especially who have multiple cards of the same bank!
Is this Ethical?
As a customer I find these charges completely unethical and then series of deduction for the same transaction – I have no words!
It’s not like all the transactions that are declined are because of insufficient funds. On the contrary the most declines are due to network issues! But how a customer can know the decline reason?
The bank should have either sent SMS to the customer that the decline is due to insufficient funds or may have charged only once for one transaction.
What should you do?
In such cases “prevention is better than cure”. So if such charges are reflecting in your statement you can talk to ICICI call center executive and tell him to reverse these charges. You have two problems here:
- One it’s really difficult to get through the maze of options to get a human voice and most of the time it really does not help!
- The time and money you would spend on call and follow ups would be worth more than Rs 28.09
A simple Google search and you would see multiple complaints regarding such charges online. In one extreme case I found the customer was charged 19 consecutive times probably for the same transaction!
RBI wants to encourage payments through Debit/credit cards but such practices by banks would be highly detrimental! Probably some rules/clarifications from RBI regarding these unethical charges might help.
How to Prevent?
There are few things you should take care while using your debit card:
- Carry only the debit cards you use regularly. Why create confusion and un-necessary risk by carrying multiple cards?
- Know your balance before making any payment
- Switch to banks that do not have such charges
Do you know of other banks who have such unethical practices or have you or your friends gone through this? If yes please leave comment to make everyone aware of such practices!
Any one facing same issue in ICICI Salary account.
Same happened to me as well Icici deducted 1 times.
So can we get refund this money?
Same happened to me as well ICICI deducted 1 times
Feom my account 29.50
Same happened to me as well.Icici deducted 9 times
can we will get refund or not?
Account no 660801501612 name Subin Raja. In my account also they collect.. Please refund it
Hi, this is Sumit Kamble. I am also facing a problem posdec 28.09
They have charged 5 consecutive times 29.5 Rs.
It’s worst
Fraud bank totally so many hidden charges they charged me 29.50 more than 7 times. as per review, Axis bank provides better service with less hidden charges.
Chanda Kochhar, the CEO is about to go jail. MAny victims like us
Same happened to me as well.Icici deducted 8 times 29.05 rs.assholes
In my condition it happens 10 to 15 times, but every time i check my balance on mobile and after that i usually withdaw.then also bank has withrawal money from my account
That aslo before 1 day
Means today is 15/4/18
And in my bank statement it shows 16/4/18 this is totally fraud.
awesome collection of information may be this article help other people.
Amount of 16.60 has deducted from my savings account of ICICI bank, kindly reverse my amount.
Happened to me 3 times as of now and i think this is direct loot…any way to reverse that…we should make this issue at the top level… after their hidden loot customer having the balance will get into insufficient…if bank will loot where will we keep money..all other means for middle class snapped..even invaders not looted india as of this bank nd govt r looting from us
I haven’t yet faced such an issue with me Axis bank account. My Icici Bank account gave me this problem, even though I had more than enough balance in it. Can anybody tell me if Axis bank cards are also facing such issues?
Dear Customer(Rahul Rana),
We request you to email us your concern with your contact details on [email protected]. Please mention the UID (135066_aacd) in the subject line of your email. Our official will assist you.
Regards,
ICICI Bank Customer Service Team
I am trying to reach ICICI since a day. I have been charges Rs. 29.50 seven times
this is too much. I have also faced with this issue on 2nd June. Your bank deducted the amount 29.50 rupees due to other bank ATM don’t have cash. I went to Other bank atm and put card and attempt to withdraw the amount, But the atm don’t have cash. Before attempt, there is no alert message for no cash and there is no security to say that. This all is bankers fault, not customers. So this is not acceptable. Very soon i will close my icici account.
It is so sad that i had complained on the amount deducted 25 times from my account and was told that it is your fault we can revoke only 2 times money and when i requested to talk to superior i was kept on hold for 8 mins SO GUYS BEWARE U WONT GET BACK ANY AMOUNT because its been since august this amount is deducted, these hidden charges are so wrong and customers are treated in this way i m a student in manipal university and i bound to have this icici card otherwise i would have closed my ac long back