Gurgaon:
Gurgaon resident Chetan Mazumdar, a credit card holder with HDFC Bank, bought a Maruti Omni through his pre-approved auto loan. The condition was he had to buy the vehicle from an authorised Maruti dealer.
On August 6, 2008 he visited the Maruti Apra showroom in Gurgaon and booked an Omni (CNG), which cost him Rs 2, 75,791 (inclusive of all charges), for which he paid Rs 20,000 as down payment through his credit card and was also offered a discount of Rs 10,000 as he had made the payment before the end of the month.
The problem started when Chetan went to collect his car. "When I visited the showroom, Apra Motors refused to hand over the car on the basis of the pre-approved loan, claiming that financing is not applicable on cars fitted with CNG kits as per the norms of the bank. Finally I agreed with them and got the car without the kit but I didn't notice that they were overcharging me. After a month when I got the statement I noticed that I was charged Rs 80,000 extra. I sent mails and tried contacting officials at the bank and Apra showroom but all in vain," said Chetan.
Having received no response from the bank, Chetan stopped the payment on his credit card with about Rs 1, 40,000 as dues. But his troubles had only begun.
"As the bank and showroom were charging me extra, I stopped the outstanding payment. Then I started getting calls from the bank but I insisted that I will make all the payment only after the issue of overcharging was resolved. But my worst fears came true when recovery agents visited my father and also my father-in-law in Mumbai. It was a social embarrassment for me as the agents misbehaved with them," said Chetan.
Chetan filed a complaint of harassment with the banking ombudsman of the RBI and also sent a legal notice to the bank and to the car showroom. "Even after sending the notice I received no response from the bank and to my surprise they sent back a loan agreement form which had my signature but was never filled by me. At the time of taking the loan I was asked to fill two forms and to sign on an extra blank form so that in case there is an error or changes the form can be filled again without wasting any time. The entire loan agreement form was full of errors; my PAN card number and address were incorrect," he added.
Chetan alleged that the recovery agents are now paying him regular visits and are trying to force him into signing a no objection certificate. "Recently two goons broke into my house and started threatening my wife and me. They were on a bike which had no number plate and had a police sticker pasted on. They asked me to sign the NOC, but I will drag them to court as they have embarrassed my family," Chetan vowed.
The bank, meanwhile, has rejected all charges of harassment. But in a mail to Chetan, the bank has acknowledged receiving the legal notice and has offered to investigate the matter. "We are a responsible bank and we value our customers. We don't have recovery agents who misbehave or barge into someone's house. His case is with the legal team as he also has an outstanding credit card bill," said a senior official with the bank when contacted by MiD DAY.