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!
June 4, 2020 today I was charged 11 times Rs 29.50 for it. I have not used my debit card since April, May and June 2020, I did not swipe my card anywhere, not even once during lockdown, however ICICI charged me 11 times today. This is very unethical practice.
I was charged for 3 times. Rs.29.50. Not even made any transaction. How come the bank can deduct without any transaction. Icici is becoming fraudulent bank.
This is purely unethical I’m charged almost 50 times same way within a day
I was charged over 4-5 times due to this unethical practice by icici and I haven’t used my card for a long time too.I find it VERY disappointing and unsatisfactory where the bank does these kind of stuff and not even alert the customers about it. Shame on you icici for doing such fraudulent things. Shame on you for taking away our hard earned money just like that.
Same thing happen to me but for me 1600+ rs has debited for me while i am adding Netflix but it is not a proper way to icici bank .i think icici bank goes to fraud bank . without any intimation every one money was detected in month of april . everyone should take necessary action on it
Same issues I have face I will switch to another bank who is not having such hidden charges
Today its unsafe with ICICI Bank, they have become looters be careful and safeguard money from ICICI, a big emerging fraudster, we should drag this decision maker out and make their life miserable, what happens if any of us have an EMI and we miss out to check and we donot get any alerts of these deductions and none of these call centres are bothered to pick our calls bxxxxxx…. in a single day how can they deduct 14 times assholes.
Today if they come up with posdec charges, tomorrow they might fiddle and take all our hard earned money, its better to remove this fraudulent service provider and opt another reliable source, this fraud may set a example for others so better transfer all money from this account
i have been charged more than 10 times, its unethical and we should take necessary legal action and completely refrain using ICICI account going forward. lot of other banks services are ethical and reliable when compared, iam going to remove this bank account and add another bank account for phonepay google transaction and even change my current account as well savings account, moreover being a business unit iam going to change all the salary account from ICICI. I will advice my other friends in the same line.
I have charged 25 times when I was trying to pay for Netflix.
I have faced the same problem, and a huge amount of money hab been deducted from my ICICI bank account, 4 times money has been debited of Rs. 29.50, This is very disappointing for me.
Icici customer care is not responding now a days so anyone please suggest how to get refund this amount & stop this deduction.
Total 21 deductions in my account today at 29.50INR each. Going to close this account . ICICI is turning into fraud bank
This is unfair system without sending any notifications about this to customers I m very disappointed now how I will get my money back
I havn’t used my icici debit card for a while but still i was charged posdec twice
What could be the reason and what should i do in such condition?
I have facing the same problem so many times but that time I ignore it but due to lockdown and have sufficient time I Google it & I knew about that unethical charges.
Please if any one about the banks who didn’t have such charges
I have faced the same problem, and a huge amount of money hab been deducted from my ICICI bank account, 18 times money has been debited of Rs. 29.50, total of Rs. 500+ has been deducted. This is very disappointing for me, very disappointing. This a serious case for me. I am not a so rich man that this amount is nothing for me. Totally fuck up system this is.
Same is happening with me , it happened for 9 times in my account even i am not using my card but amount is deducted daily. Please provide me solution how you solved your problem ? Is money returned by bank?