With reference to an image of a passbook being circulated on social media, leading private sector bank HDFC has issued a clarification that appears to have sent some of its customers in a tizzy. An HDFC passbook image with details of the bank’s ‘Deposit Insurance Cover’ printed saying that deposits in the bank up to Rs 1 lakh is insured is doing the rounds on the social media websites.
https://twitter.com/HDFCBank_Cares/status/1184658955651313664?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
The printed message read, “The deposits of the bank are insured with DICGC and in case of liquidation of the bank, DICGC is liable to pay each of the depositors through the liquidator. The amount of this deposit is up to Rs 1 lakh within 2 months from the date of claim list from the liquidator.”
Responding to a tweet posted by a user who uploaded the image and insinuated that the bank is indulging in white-collar thievery, HDFC Bank issued a clarification stating that the information was not new and had been inserted as per a June 22, 2017 RBI circular.
The statement issued by the bank said, “This pertains to information about the deposit insurance cover. We would like to clarify that the information has been inserted as per RBI circular dated Jane 22, 2017 which requires all Scheduled Commercial Banks, all Small Finance Banks and Payment Banks to incorporate information about ‘deposit insurance cover’ along with the limit of coverage upfront in the passbook.”
The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) is a fully owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India which provides for protection of Rs 1 lakh per depositor for deposits in commercial banks, regional rural banks, local area banks (LABs) and cooperative banks, and rest of the deposit amount is relinquished in the unusual case of a bank failure.