What to do if credit card issued without your consent?

There has been significant increase in online digital transactions in the country. Apart from digital wallets and debit cards, most people also opt for credit cards. In view of the rising cases of cyber frauds, one must be very cautious using any of the digital means of payment and ensure both debit and credit cards details are kept confidential.

Have you ever wondered what would you do after finding that a credit card has been issued without your consent? Well, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently amended certain provisions that came into effect from March 7, 2024. The RBI also released latest FAQs related to credit Card and debit Card issuance.

According to RBI, card issuers are prohibited from issuing unsolicited credit cards and are required to seek prior and explicit consent from the customer before issuing a card. However, if the customer receives an unsolicited card, he/she should refrain from activating or providing consent for activation of card through OTP or any other means.

If no consent is received for activating the card, the card-issuer is required to close the credit card account without any cost to the customer within seven working days from the date of seeking confirmation from the customer and shall also intimate the customer that the credit card account has been closed.

Subsequent to receiving the intimation from the card-issuer that the card account has been closed, the customer shall destroy the card. Further, the customer may file a complaint with the card-issuer against the issuance of unsolicited card and escalate it to the RBI Ombudsman as per the Integrated Ombudsman Scheme.