CorpBank cheques bounce due to network glitch

Customers of other banks suffer as Rs 150 deducted for failed transaction

An internet-based network problem in Corporation Bank not only affected the clearance of cheques issued by its customers, but also led to the deduction of cash from the accounts of customers of other banks for failed transaction.

A rough estimate suggests that 300 people faced the problem on the New Year when Rs 150 was debited from the accounts in other banks for the Corporation Bank cheques deposited on December 29 in their respective branches.

In one instance, Bipin Bekal, a resident of Bengaluru, had deposited a Corporation Bank cheque for Rs 74,000 in his State Bank of Mysore (SBM) account on December 29. He came to know about the ‘wrongful’ deduction of Rs 150 from his account when he tried to cheque why the money had not been credited to his account.

On enquiring about the status of his cheque, he was handed over a return memo report by SBM. The reason cited was “being unable to obtain payment of the enclosed cheque”.
The bank cited ‘connectivity failure’ as reason for the failed transaction.

Shortly after receiving the memo, Bekal received a text message on his mobile phone from SBM that Rs 150 had been deducted for the dishonoured cheque.

Customers panic
Panicked by the unnecessary deduction for no fault of his, he along with the person who issued the cheque went to Corporation Bank to check the reason. The bank admitted that there was some network problem in their internet-based system, which led the cheque to bounce.

The Corporation Bank officials told them that they were not the lone sufferers of the network problem and there were about 300 such people.

Bekal sought to know why the customers should suffer for the network problem in Corporation Bank.

“Why should customers suffer for a problem between the two nationalised banks – SBM and Corporation? When I met in person the managers of both the banks, none of them was ready to take responsibility to refund the debited amount,” said Bekal.