​Dear Sagar Media Inc,Petitioning to RBI, Governor Urjit          

ON MAY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

​Dear Sagar Media Inc, “The tax department wants to extract taxes on ‘services’ that are ostensibly provided FREE to bank customers. What can be more absurd than this? It has happened because we as customers are not taking our protest to the next level or protesting enough.” “Bank deposits are already taxed at the highest level, how ridiculous is it to dream up taxes for basic banking operations like deposits, withdrawals, balance inquiry and cheque books?” Sign Sucheta Dalal’s petition to ensure that banks should have fair charges and services for all their customers. Petitioning Reserve Bank of India, Governor Governor: RBI-Finance Ministry: Stop Banks Fleecing Depositors Petition by Sucheta Dalal mumbai, India  2,30,278  Supporters Sign the petition Dr Urjit Patel Governor, Reserve Bank of India Sub: Unfair treatment of bank customers Dear Dr Patel, We, a group of bank consumers and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are disturbed at the unfair treatment that bank customers suffer in the form of frequent, arbitrary and one-sided increase in banking charges, or the refusal of banks to automatically pass on contractual benefits such as lower interest to those with floating rate home loans, or the rampant mis-sellling of third-party products such as insurance. The attached memorandum is the consensus view of a group of knowledgeable consumer activists, policy watchers, bankers, and trade unions, request urgent policy changes to ensure that banks treat bank customers fairly. Dr Patel, we are confident you will have the memorandum examined and initiate action at the earliest. We look forward to active engagement and a line of acknowledgement from your office Memorandum The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as the banking regulator has been proactive in improving the customer service rendered by banks. However, the RBI has not taken banks to task on the many customer-unfriendly practices that are increasing with impunity. Over the years, the RBI has remained silent on several anti-depositor actions of banks. The Banking Ombudsman’s rulings also tend to side with banks, making no attempt to observe the pattern of complaints which would amply bring out rampant mis-selling of insurance and wealth management products. We have identified some specific areas and request RBI’s intervention to take corrective steps after engaging with customers. 1.     Digital Payments: While the Union Government is pushing consumers into digital transactions, we are not adopting global best practices to protect consumers. On 11 August 2016 (https://www.rbi.org.in/scripts/bs_viewcontent.aspx?Id=3235) the RBI issued a draft circular on limiting customer liability and shifting the onus of proving customer fault on banks.  RBI had sought feedback from public before 31 August 2016. However, it has not yet been converted into a Master Circular. We feel that with the increased use of digital payments post the demonetisation drive, it is necessary to have in place a mechanism or system to protect customers from unauthorised banking transactions. A Master circular/notification by the Reserve Bank on limiting liability in an unauthorised banking transaction will make a huge impact on protecting customers from frauds. 2.      Bank Account Number Portability: We feel effective portability of bank accounts is a good anti-dote to several restrictive practices followed by the banks. This has been successfully implemented in the telecom sector and helped consumers. No practical portability option exists at present due to tie in primarily due to standing instructions for both incomes (pensions, annuities, dividends, interest) and expenses (utilities etc.) and the difficulties associated with changing those standing instructions. Portability of loan exists on paper, but has to be made easier and seamless to execute without imposing fiscal and non-fiscal burden on the consumer. The Prime Minister’s Awas Yojana now provides interest subsidy to loan taken by eligible households. Allowing lenders to overcharge for such loan consumers is allowing them to appropriate this subsidy provided from taxpayers’ funds. It is the duty of the government and regulators to ensure that the lenders do not appropriate this taxpayers’ money by overcharging the borrowers and create barriers when the borrower wants to shift this loan. 3.     Unfair agreements: Banks cannot have one-sided terms and conditions in their agreements with consumers. One-sided loan agreements with details buried in the fine print are bleeding customers. The Reserve Bank, in its communication must be specific about barring the levy of unfair charges otherwise bankers take undue advantage and fleece consumers. A basic model agreement must be prescribed by the RBI to limit banks from harming customers. 4.     Charges: Frequent increase in charges and billing customers by stealth through opt-out clauses that are not noticeable must be stopped immediately. For e.g. HDFC Bank started levying charges for an invite only program, which unethically assumes that the customer is already in and willing to pay for it. The levy is stopped only when the consumer notices it and calls the bank to protest, this too is not an easy process. 5.     Faulty Systems: Wrong emails being tagged by faulty algorithms of banks and finance companies, are leading to emails being sent to people who have no borrowing or accounts. This is a serious issue that will affect people’s credit history; the use of such faulty algorithms and defeats the purpose of KYC and causes serious harassment. 6.     Master Circular Changes: Frequent changes in the Master Circular or Notifications by RBI require banks to make changes in their Core Banking Systems.  This leads to high IT costs, which are ultimately passed on to consumers. The RBI must restrict changes in its circulars to 4 times a year to keep costs in check. 7.     Consumer Charter: The RBI issued the Charter of Customer Rights on 3 December 2014 recognising five basic rights of bank customers and asks banks to adapt and implement it after their Board’s approval. These are: (i) Right to Fair Treatment; (ii) Right to Transparency; Fair and Honest Dealing; (iii) Right to Suitability; (iv) Right to Privacy; and (v) Right to Grievance Redress and Compensation. The Charter covers almost every problem that consumers were likely to face. Three years later, the RBI has not fixed timeframes for grievance redressal nor announced penalties for failure to treat consumers fairly, despite repeated appeals by consumer groups. Consequently, the Charter remains a toothless statement. A Master circular/notification by the Reserve Bank giving teeth to the Charter of Customer Rights with clear provisions fixing timelines for redressal and escalation, penalty for negligent service and interest/compensation to customers for losses caused due to mis-selling is urgently needed. Yours truly, Sucheta Dalal , Trustee Moneylife Foundation Debashis Basu, Trustee Moneylife Foundation Dhirendra Kumar, Foundation Value Research Abhay Datar, Mumbai Grahak Panchayat Sunil Bhandare, All India Bank Depositors Association C H VENKATACHALAM, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees Association Harsh Vardhan Roongta, Financial Expert and Advisor R N Bhaskar, Sr. Editor, Columnist Yogesh Sapkale, Director, Moneylife Foundation Dolphy D’souza, Convener, Police Reforms Watch Mahua Ghose, Consultant Partha Mansukhani, Public Concern For Governance Trust Lalita Joshi, All India Bank Employees Association Raj Vaidya, Central Bank Employees Union Advocate Bapoo Malcolm Shubhada Khandekar, Author A V Shenoy, Rashtriya Matadata Manch Gautam Mody, General Secretary, New Trade Union Initiative Sign the petition

Macron thanks Australian PM

ON MAY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

France’s President Emmanuel Macron may have had le vin rouge on his mind when he thanked Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his “delicious wife” for their warm welcome on his official visit.

Macron and Turnbull had navigated their way through several sensitive diplomatic issues at a news conference in Sydney on Wednesday, only for the president to make the linguistic slip while making closing remarks in English.

He thanked Turnbull and his wife, Lucy, for being good hosts and acknowledged the fine food and wine he had enjoyed on his visit, before exclaiming: “I want to thank you for your welcome, you and your delicious wife for the warm welcome.”

The comment lit up social media, replacing discussion about the leaders’ deliberations on more weighty issues such as China’s growing influence in the region.

But what exactly did Macron try to say?

He may have had the word “delicieux” in mind, which, though sounding similar to “delicious,” would better translate into “lovely” or “delightful.”

While more often used to describe a pastry or a meal, the word “delicieux” can also describe a person, even if it is a somewhat old-fashioned usage.

Dominican Republic break ties with Taiwan

ON MAY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Chinese government has announced that it has established diplomatic ties with the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean, which in turn cut its ties with Taiwan.

Taiwanese media severely criticized China, reporting that the Chinese government pledged 3-billion dollars in loans to the Dominican Republic.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his Dominican counterpart, Miguel Vargas, gave a joint news conference in Beijing on Tuesday, disclosing that the 2 countries have formed diplomatic relations.

In a joint statement, the Dominican Republic said that “there is only one China in the world.” It severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan on the day.

Taiwan’s media quoted Taiwan officials as saying that the Chinese government promised to extend 3-billion dollars in loans for developing infrastructure, including railways and highways.

The sum would account for more than 20 percent of the island nation’s annual state budget. Taiwan is severely criticizing the Chinese government for promising such a huge loan package in order to establish diplomatic ties with the Dominican Republic.

As a result, Taiwan is left with diplomatic ties with only 19 countries — the smallest number ever. The Chinese government is seen to be applying increasing diplomatic pressure to isolate Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen government.

Cambridge Analytica winds up

ON MAY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

Cambridge Analytica, the political consultancy firm at the center of the Facebook data privacy scandal, is shutting down, the Wall Street Journal reports. In March, it emerged that Facebook had exposed the data of up to 87 million users to the firm’s researchers. Last month, the company suspended its CEO Alexander Nix, ahead of investigations to determine whether it had engaged in any wrongdoing.

Explosion at Lag BaOmer,Jewish festive in London

ON MAY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

30 people have been injured in an explosion during a celebration of lag BaOmer Jewish festival,  in north London late Wednesday.

The explosion was reportedly sparked by mobile phones being thrown into bonfires, which are a tradition for Lag BaOmer, an annual Jewish festive event.

Hundreds gathered in Stamford Hill at the time. Around 10 people are believed to have been injured by the fire, while 20 others injured in the scramble to escape, local media reported.

American detained freed in N Korea

ON MAY 3, 2018 BY NARESH SAGARLEAVE A COMMENTEDIT

North Korea has reportedly transferred three American prisoners out of labor camps into a hotel, ahead of the planned summit between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump. According to a South Korean activist representing ‘Family Assembly of those Abducted to North Korea’, the three, Kim Hak-song, Kim Sang-duk and Kim Dong-chul, were moved to the outskirts of Pyongyang sometime in mid-April. The detainees, convicted of “hostile acts” against the North Korean government and people, are widely expected to be freed as a goodwill gesture ahead of the much-anticipated talks.