The Raipur District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed the State Bank of India to return nearly Rs 1 lakh to a young woman after failing to act swiftly on her cyber fraud complaint, highlighting growing accountability for banks in digital transaction disputes.
A consumer commission in Chhattisgarh has ordered State Bank of India to refund nearly Rs 1 lakh to a young account holder after ruling that the lender failed to act swiftly on her complaint of unauthorised online transfers.
The Raipur District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission also awarded the woman Rs 10,000 for mental distress and Rs 5,000 for legal costs. In its order, the bench said the bank should have moved quickly to freeze the disputed funds after being alerted and should not have left the customer to bear the loss when she had reported the fraud within the Reserve Bank of India’s prescribed timeframe.
According to the complaint, Rs 99,900 was taken from the woman’s savings account in seven online transactions on March 30, 2019. She told the cyber cell the same day, then wrote to SBI on April 2 asking for the transfers to be reversed and for action to be taken. A legal notice followed on April 6, but she said she received no meaningful response. The bank argued that the transfers had been authenticated through internet banking and one-time passwords, and suggested that confidential login details may have been shared or that the transactions may have been carried out by the customer herself.
The commission rejected that defence, noting that the woman had immediately raised the alarm with the police and the bank within three working days. Under RBI rules on unauthorised electronic transactions, customers who report promptly can qualify for zero liability where the fault does not lie with them. Banking and legal commentary on the RBI framework says banks must refund disputed sums quickly in such cases and resolve complaints within 90 days, with limited liability only where reporting is delayed. The ruling adds to a series of consumer wins in India that place responsibility on banks to investigate digital fraud and act without delay.
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