In its order, the commission held SBI liable for the loss caused to the complainants while also allowing the bank to recover the lost amount from the salaries of the staff responsible. A sexagenarian couple won a case against the State Bank of India (SBI) in the Gondia District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission setting a precedent granting civil remedies for victims of unauthorised banking transactions even if the police investigation is not complete. The consumer commission, in its order dated August 10, 2021, directed SBI’s Gondia branch to undo the contested transaction of Rs 18.36 lakh into the couple’s account. Online scams and ATM frauds constitute a major chunk of cyber crimes as digital banking makes swift inroads in our lives. The Parliament in February this year said that over 2.9 lakh cyber security incidents related to digital banking were reported in 2020. Many of these cases involve unsuspecting consumers, not well-versed with technology incidentally, being duped by criminals into revealing their confidential information like OTP and bank account details. The redressal mechanism available to victims has not kept up with the sophisticated nature of these crimes leaving them with very few options to seek remedy and recover their losses. What was the complaint about? The order (a copy of which MediaNama has seen) in laying out the facts of the case explained that the problem began when Dr. Suresh Katre, 65, received an SMS on his phone stating: "Your SBI account will be suspended today 20/11/19 due to wrong date…
