Fair Practice Code - Nutan Bank

News Buzz

Edit Template

(effective from 1st Dec., 2009)

This is a voluntary Code, which sets standards of fair banking practices recommended by Indian Banks? Association to be followed while dealing with individual customers. It provides valuable guidance to you for your day-to-day operations. The Code applies to:

Current, Savings and all other Deposit Accounts
Collection and remittance services offered by the bank
Loans and overdrafts
Third party products offered through our network.

Promote good and fair banking practices by setting minimum standards in dealing with you;
Increase transparency so that you can have a better understanding of what you can reasonably expect of the services;
Encourage market forces, through competition, to achieve higher operating standards;
Promote a fair and cordial relationship between you and your bank;
Foster confidence in the banking system.
The standards of the Code are covered by the key commitments in Section

About this Code As a voluntary Code, it promotes competition and encourages market forces to achieve higher Operating standards for the benefit of customers. In the Code, "you" denotes the customer and ?We? the Nutan Nagarik Sahakari Bank Limited.

The standards of the Code are covered by the four key commitments found in section 2. Unless it says otherwise, all parts of this Code apply to all the products and services listed above, whether they are provided by branches across the counter, over the phone, by post, through interactive electronic devices, on the internet or by any other method. Commitments outlined in this Code are applicable under normal operating environment. In the event of force meazjure, we may not be able to fulfill the commitments under this Code. This Code comes into effect from 1st December, 2009 unless otherwise indicated.

Our key commitments to you - we promise to:
Act fairly and reasonably in all our dealings with you by:

Meeting the commitments and standards in this Code, for the products and services we offer, and in the procedures and practices our staff follow
Making sure our products and services meet relevant laws and regulations
Our dealings with you will rest on ethical principles of integrity and transparency.

Help you to understand how our financial products and services work by:

Giving you information about them in plain English and/or the local language explaining their financial implications and helping you choose the one that meets your needs.
Display our banking hours and working hours at all branch in a conspicuous manner.
Attend to all customers present in the banking hall at the close of business hours.

Deal quickly and sympathetically with things that go wrong by:

Correcting mistakes quickly
Handling your complaints quickly
Telling you how to take your complaint forward if you are still not satisfied and
Reversing any bank charges that we apply due to our mistake.

Publicize this Code, put it on our website and have copies available for you on request.

Helping you to choose products and services, which meet your needs -
Before you become a customer, we will:

Give you clear information explaining the key features of the services and products you tell us you are interested in
Give you information on any type of account facility which we offer and may suit your needs
Tell you what information we need from you to prove your identity and address and to comply with KYC norms, legal and regulatory requirements, and
Request for additional information about you and your family to build a database but such information can be furnished by you only if you wish and we will not compel you to give this information for opening your account.

We will tell you if we offer products and services in more than one way [for example, through ATMs on the internet, over the phone, in branches and so on] and tell you how to find out more about them. Once you have chosen an account or service, we will tell you how it works. When you open a single account or a joint account, we will give you information on your rights and responsibilities. We Offer nomination facilities to all deposit accounts (i.e. account opened in individual capacity) and all safe deposit locker hirers (i.e. individual hirers). We recommend that you avail nomination facility offered on all deposit accounts, articles in safe custody and safe deposit vaults. We will guide you how we will deal with deposits and other assets held with us in the name of a deceased person in the absence of nomination.

You can find out about our interest rates by:

Looking at the notices in our branches
Phoning our branches
Looking on our website; or
Asking our branch staff.

When you become a customer, we will give you information on the interest rates which apply to your accounts, and when we will pay interest on your deposits or debit interest on your loan accounts. We will also tell you our website address, our help-line numbers and the other ways in which you can find out about changes in the interest rates. We will explain how we apply interest to your account. Changes in interest rates - When we change the interest rates on our products, we will update the information on our website within seven working days. Interest on savings accounts - At the time of opening of the account, we will inform you of the rate at which interest is paid on your savings deposits [presently, it is regulated by Reserve Bank of India], how it is calculated and its periodicity.

When you become a customer, we will give you upfront details of any charges applicable to the products chosen by you. You can also find out about our charges by: Asking our staff at the branch where you have your account Looking on our website. If we increase any of these charges or introduce a new charge, it will be notified at least one month before the revised charges are levied / become due. We will tell you the charge for any other service or product before we provide that service or product, and at any time you ask.

When you become a customer or accept a product for the first time, we will give you the relevant terms and conditions for the service you have asked us to provide. All written terms and conditions will be fair and will set out your rights and responsibilities clearly and in plain language. We will only use legal or technical language where necessary. Changes to Terms and Conditions - When you become a customer, we will tell you how we will let you know / notify about changes to terms and conditions.
Normally, changes [other than interest rates] will be made with prospective effect giving notice of at least one month. If the changes are to your disadvantage, you may close the account at any time up to two months from the date of the notice without having to pay any extra charges or interest for doing this. Changes in the interest rates on our products [deposits and advances] from time to time will be notified as per the bank’s policy/practice.

We will make sure that all advertising and promotional material is clear, fair, reasonable and not misleading. We will seek your specific consent for giving details of your name and address to any third party, including other entities in our group, for marketing purposes. We would like to provide you with the entire range of financial services products, some of which are our own products while some others are the products of entities or banks with which we have tie-up arrangements.

Statements - To help you manage your account and check entries on it, we will give you account statements at regular intervals unless this is not appropriate for the type of account you have. We will normally provide you with a statement periodically as per our policy. You can ask us to provide you with account statements more often than is normally available on your type of account, but there may be a charge for this service.
We will also send you statement of accounts by e-mail, if you so desire, when the facility becomes operational. Clearing Cycle / Collection Services - We will tell you about the clearing cycle, including when you can withdraw money after lodging collection instruments and when you will start to earn interest. We will give immediate credit to your account for outstation Cheques lodged by you and will allow you to draw against such instrument[s] under collection as per prevailing RBI guidelines. [Presently, instruments upto Rs.10,000/- tendered by old customers operating accounts very satisfactorily.]

We will pay interest on funds involved if collection is delayed beyond the normal period as stipulated by RBI. Cash Transactions - You should count notes and ensure correctness before leaving the cash counter. Avoid writing anything on the face of the notes and co-operate with us by emitting notes in unstapled / unstitched conditions as required under RBI’s Clean Note Policy. Direct debits and standing instructions -We will act upon mandates given by you for direct debits [say ECS] and other standing instructions.
Cheques issued by you - We will keep original Cheques paid from your account or copies, for such periods as required by law. If, within a reasonable period after the entry has been made on your statement, there is a dispute about a cheque paid from your account, we will give you the cheque or a copy as evidence. Protecting your account - We will tell you what you can do to help protect your accounts. You can find out more about what you can do to help in section 11 of this Code.

Confidentiality We will treat all your personal information as private and confidential [even when you are no longer a customer]. We will not reveal transaction details of your accounts to a third party, including entities in our group, other than in the following four exceptional cases when we are allowed to do -

If we have to give the information by law.
If there is a duty towards the public to reveal the information.
If our interests require us to give the information [for example, to prevent fraud) but we will not use this as a reason for giving information about you or your accounts [including your name and address] to anyone else, for marketing purposes.
If you ask us to reveal the information, or if we have your permission to provide such information to our group/ associate /entities or companies when we have tie-up arrangements for providing other financial service products.

Wherever we have installed CCTV for close surveillance as part of security arrangements, the same will be indicated.

This section is all about what you can do to help prevent your accounts being misused.
Communication Link

Please make sure you let us know as soon as possible when you change your:
Name
Address
Phone number or
E-mail address [if this is how we communicate with you.

Checking your account - We recommend that you check your statement or passbook regularly. If there is an entry, which seems to be wrong, you should tell us as soon as possible so that we can sort it out. If we need to investigate a transaction on your account you should co-operate with us and the police or any other authority, if we need to involve them.

Taking care - Taking care of your Cheques, passbook and other security information is essential to help prevent fraud and protect your accounts. Please make sure that you follow the advice given below:

Do not keep the blank cheque leaves signed

if you send a cheque through the post, it will help to prevent fraud if you clearly write the name of the person you are paying the cheque to. Write such Cheques with carbon on the reverse to avoid chemical alterations.

If you are paying a cheque into a bank account, always write on the cheque the name of the account holder [ABC Bank Account - XYZ]. You should draw a line through unused space on the cheque so unauthorized person cannot add extra numbers or names.
What to do if you lose your cheque book or passbook

It is essential that you tell us as soon as you can if you suspect or discover that your cheque book, passbook, has been lost or stolen or. The best way of telling us about the loss will usually be by phone, using the numbers we have given you, or by e-mail to the address we have given you for this purpose. Alternatively, you may send a written communication to us immediately.
Canceling payments - If you want to cancel a payment or series of payments you have authorised, you should do the following:

To stop payment of a cheque or cancel standing instruction given, you must tell us in writing
To cancel a direct debit, you can either tell the originator of the direct debit or tell us. We recommend you do both.
It may not be possible to cancel payments if you do not give enough notice of your decision to cancel.

Liability for Losses - If you act fraudulently, you will be responsible for all losses on your account. If you act without reasonable care, and this causes losses, you may be responsible for them. [This may apply if you do not follow section 11.4.] Unless you have acted fraudulently or without reasonable care, your liability for the misuse of your card will be limited as indicated by us while issuing the card.

Before we lend you any money or increase your overdraft, or loan, we will assess whether we feel you will be able to repay it. If we offer you an overdraft, or an increase in your existing overdraft limit, we will tell you if your overdraft is repayable on demand or otherwise. Wherever possible, reasons for rejection of loans will be conveyed to you.

Complaints / Grievances and Feedback / Suggestions - If at any stage you are not satisfied with the service given to you, please do not hesitate to contact us. Your first point of contact for redressal of any complaint will be our Branch Heads who are fully capable of redressing customer grievances satisfactorily.
If you do not receive a reply within 5 working days from the Branch Head, or if you are not satisfied with the reply received you can write to -
The Asstt. Gen. Manager Central office, Opp. Samartheshwar Mahadev, Nr. Law Garden, Ellisbridge, Ahmedabad - 380006.
Email:admin@nutanbank.com
Tel. No. : 079 - 26443724
Tel. No. :079 - 26426326

If you do not hear from our AGM within next 10 working days, or if you are not satisfied with the response, please write to the statutory body appointed by the Reserve Bank of India to look into the provision of satisfactory service by banks. This body is known as the Banking Ombudsman, at the following address.
Banking Ombudsman, Reserve Bank of India, 6 floor, La Gajjar chamber,Ashram Road, Ahmedabad - 380006.
Feedback and Suggestions - Please provide feedback on our services. Your suggestions will help us to improve our services.

We have a ?Nodal Officer? to ensure compliance of the Code. Our internal auditing procedures make sure we meet the Code.

If you have any enquiries about this Code, you may contact the

Indian Bank's Association Stadium House, Block II & III Veer Nariman Road, Mumbai 400 020
Tel. No. 022-22844999 Fax: 022-22835638
Email: ibastadium@vsnl.net
Web site www.iba.org.in

We will have notices in all our branches and on websites explaining that copies of the Code are available and how you can get one and we will make copy available to you on request. You can get a copy of this Code from the website of Indian Banks Association www.iba.org.in.