Issue Resolved Beware of SMS from ICICI stating reduced Bill Amount

[indianets]

Hello all,

This is my first post, so please be considerate.

My Amazon Pay ICICI CC statement date is 25th and Due Date falls generally on 12th of the next month. A bill of 3526.40 was generated on March 25 recently with a due date of April 12. All good until now!!



I made a few amazon purchases after the bill generation of which one transaction of 699 was refunded. Ideally, it should not affect the bill or dues in any way unless I get a refund for transaction(s) made in previous statement. But ICICI messed up here, and considers that 699 refund of transaction made after bill generation as payment of my dues and assertively sends an SMS intimating me of reduced bill total. I thought I might have got refunded of a transaction already billed and updated the "to-pay" amount in my notes from the SMS. Later, when I checked I realized, I would have been borderline scammed of late fees and other charges due to that misleading SMS.


The original transaction was made on 30th March and refunded on 5th April as per current statement on netbanking, both of which falls after statement date of 25th March.



So, beware and don't revise your dues based on even official SMS from ICICI stating your Revised Total Dues.

Thanks

 

[Jai Shri Ram]

There could be a strong case against ICICI, if it doesn't accept the official SMS.

 

[indianets]

There could be a strong case against ICICI, if it doesn't accept the official SMS.

Yes, a perfect ground for legal notice for misleading customers and causing financial harm.

 

[blubber]

Given my experience with ICICI, and other banks in general, you would have been fine if you proceed with the reduced amount.

Refunds towards your card to tend to reduce the total amount due, however they do not count towards the minimum amount due.

The communication from icici also makes it evident that they considered it a payment.

 

[indianets]

they considered it a payment

Wouldn't this be a loophole for rolling credit for a few months this way?

RBI mentions here - https://www.rbi.org.in/CommonPerson/english/Scripts/FAQs.aspx?Id=3580 - in Senario 1, it should be adjusted in upcoming bill, but not towards existing dues. I understand some banks could consider that as payment, but that would be a free credit loophole if so IMO.

 

[theflash]

Hello all,

This is my first post, so please be considerate.

My Amazon Pay ICICI CC statement date is 25th and Due Date falls generally on 12th of the next month. A bill of 3526.40 was generated on March 25 recently with a due date of April 12. All good until now!!

View attachment 89463

I made a few amazon purchases after the bill generation of which one transaction of 699 was refunded. Ideally, it should not affect the bill or dues in any way unless I get a refund for transaction(s) made in previous statement. But ICICI messed up here, and considers that 699 refund of transaction made after bill generation as payment of my dues and assertively sends an SMS intimating me of reduced bill total. I thought I might have got refunded of a transaction already billed and updated the "to-pay" amount in my notes from the SMS. Later, when I checked I realized, I would have been borderline scammed of late fees and other charges due to that misleading SMS.

View attachment 89464
The original transaction was made on 30th March and refunded on 5th April as per current statement on netbanking, both of which falls after statement date of 25th March.

View attachment 89465

So, beware and don't revise your dues based on even official SMS from ICICI stating your Revised Total Dues.

Thanks

In short the txn was done and refunded after bill generation but it reduced your bill amount right?

 

[Vineet_]

In short the txn was done and refunded after bill generation but it reduced your bill amount right?

Yes It happens mostly every bank i saw like icici, bob ,au, sbi , axis except hdfc bill amount reduced if we pay partial amount or refund come after bill generation. Now hdfc not allow prepay strictly & most bank following same due to bbps role.

It needs more clarity refund will considered as payments or not because statement outstanding pay due getting to reduce every time now its bank loophole they can put penalty anytime miracle can happen you will never know high interest in pending cc bill dues.

 

[theflash]

Yes It happens mostly every bank i saw like icici, bob ,au, sbi , axis except hdfc bill amount reduced if we pay partial amount or refund come after bill generation. Now hdfc not allow prepay strictly & most bank following same due to bbps role.

It needs more clarity refund will considered as payments or not because statement outstanding pay due getting to reduce every time now its bank loophole they can put penalty anytime miracle can happen you will never know high interest in pending cc bill dues.

So far I've always paid my CC bill before generation almost every time. It's sometimes I let bill get generated...

 

[indianets]

the txn was done and refunded after bill generation but it reduced your bill amount

Yes, precisely. And, logically this shouldn’t have happened.

now its bank loophole they can put penalty anytime miracle can happen you will never know high interest in pending cc bill dues

That’s what I am worried about, and I have seen horrible storied on social media when people fell short of the total due and were penalized heavily for silly mistakes.

 

[Mr. BeanMr. Bean is verified member.]

Thanks for sharing the valuable info with references, @indianets . I marked your answer as solution.

 

[CarbonLogic]

I would like to ask a similarly related question here itself instead of creating a new thread.

Same CC, my bill generation date is 2nd of every month.

Today I made a purchase of Rs210 on Amazon, it was out for delivery and suddenly status changed to undeliverable and returning to seller. On asking customer support, they mentioned it was cancelled by local delivery station because packages were destroyed (probably due to rains or could be a generic excuse). They said refund will be initiated once package returns to seller (if its destroyed how are they returning it to seller?) and refund will happen within 5 business days.

Tomorrow is sunday, so refund is to be expected by 31st. In the ICICI app, currently the Rs210 is showing up under UNBILLED

So what will be happening next? Will this 210 get settled and then refund shows up thereby getting adjusted in the outstanding?

I am hoping that refund shows up before bill generation so that I dont have to deal with issue of whether the refund after bill generation counts towards bill payment or not even though RBI guidelines are clear about it.

(Just for clarity I have done only 2 txns this month with Apay ICICI CC, one for 354, and the other one 210)

 

[6ix9ine]

I would like to ask a similarly related question here itself instead of creating a new thread.

Same CC, my bill generation date is 2nd of every month.

Today I made a purchase of Rs210 on Amazon, it was out for delivery and suddenly status changed to undeliverable and returning to seller. On asking customer support, they mentioned it was cancelled by local delivery station because packages were destroyed (probably due to rains or could be a generic excuse). They said refund will be initiated once package returns to seller (if its destroyed how are they returning it to seller?) and refund will happen within 5 business days.

Tomorrow is sunday, so refund is to be expected by 31st. In the ICICI app, currently the Rs210 is showing up under UNBILLED

So what will be happening next? Will this 210 get settled and then refund shows up thereby getting adjusted in the outstanding?

I am hoping that refund shows up before bill generation so that I dont have to deal with issue of whether the refund after bill generation counts towards bill payment or not even though RBI guidelines are clear about it.

(Just for clarity I have done only 2 txns this month with Apay ICICI CC, one for 354, and the other one 210)

View attachment 113062
View attachment 113063
View attachment 113065

I believe the refund will be settled before 2nd november, and you won’t have to pay anything.

Btw, has amazon released the refund yet, or is it still in progress? As per your screenshot, they mentioned 25th.

 

[CarbonLogic]

They have refunded, got notification today morning. Now have to wait till its credited.

I believe the refund will be settled before 2nd november, and you won’t have to pay anything.

Btw, has amazon released the refund yet, or is it still in progress? As per your screenshot, they mentioned 25th.

 

[CarbonLogic]

I believe the refund will be settled before 2nd november, and you won’t have to pay anything.

Btw, has amazon released the refund yet, or is it still in progress? As per your screenshot, they mentioned 25th.

Credited to CC today. What a relief xD

 

[6ix9ine]

Credited to CC today. What a relief xD

Nice, and yeah, it’s definitely a hassle. Still, a rule of thumb I usually follow regardless of whether it’s a refund or cashback.

If the bill is generated for ₹100, I pay ₹100 then I contact their customer care team and ask them to refund the excess amount to my bank account.

 

[CarbonLogic]

Nice, and yeah, it’s definitely a hassle. Still, a rule of thumb I usually follow regardless of whether it’s a refund or cashback.

If the bill is generated for ₹100, I pay ₹100 then I contact their customer care team and ask them to refund the excess amount to my bank account.

Got it, will follow the same if it ever happens.

The excess credit amount will show as Negative balance in Outstanding right (assuming theres no unsettled txns + I did not make spends after bill was generated and was paid in entirety)?

In this case (if the amount is not too big), can I leave the credit as is, so that if I make any purchases it will get adjusted accordingly?

 

[6ix9ine]

Got it, will follow the same if it ever happens.

The excess credit amount will show as Negative balance in Outstanding right (assuming theres no unsettled txns + I did not make spends after bill was generated and was paid in entirety)?

Yes, example: let's say bill is generated for ₹100, you pay ₹100 then you receive refund of ₹100. Your total outstanding will be -₹100.

In this case (if the amount is not too big), can I leave the credit as is, so that if I make any purchases it will get adjusted accordingly?

Yes, that's completely up to you. Some banks like SBI will remind you that you have excess balance and you can request the refund to your bank if you wish.