Consumers' complaints often ignored
Consumers' complaints often ignored
Sudibyo M. Wiradji
Contributor
Jakarta
Many local banks still do not pay enough attention to
complaints filed by their customers despite the introduction of
consumer protection law in 1999, which, among other things, gives
customers the right to information on payment for which they
might be charged.
The cardholders are often confused, frustrated and feel
cheated due to poor issuing bank responses to their problems. The
best way for many to vent their frustration is to send their
complaint to the letters to the editor section of local
newspapers or to the Indonesian Consumers Foundation (YLKI),
although such approaches often do not really help to solve their
problem.
Credit card complaints received by YLKI, for example, mostly
relate to the interest payments and annual fees and billing
errors.
"Many cardholders filed their complaints to YLKI due to the
lack of response from issuing banks," the foundation's legal
advisor for banking Yusuf Shofie said.
Unlike many other countries, Indonesia has yet to issue a
special law to protect credit card or debit card holders from
unfair practices by the issuing banks.
The U.S., for example, has a law, the Fair Credit Card Act, to
require credit card companies to disclose all their terms and
charges in easily readable tabular form so that consumers will
know the exact cost of using a particular card.
Transparency is needed because banks have different methods
of, for example, calculating the cost of credit and the monthly
balance. The monthly payment charged by credit card issuers
differs according to the method they have used.
Although the passing of the Consumer Protection Law
(UPK) in 1999 has brought much help in dealing with customers'
complaints, it is not robust enough to cope with the financial
disputes that arise between banks and their customers.
"Many issuing banks still ignore the law," Yusuf said.
The foundation received 99 bank-related complaints last year,
98 in 2000 and 140 in 1999. During the last six months, the
foundation received 37 complaints from bank customers.
"The number is not significant. What matters most is the
nature of the complaints," he said.
Most of them were credit card-related, such as
the amount of interest that should be paid by customers, the
annual fees, the blocking of credit cards without prior notice
and discrepancies in the monthly balance.
"Many customers also complained about the way particular
issuing banks dealt with the debt settlement," he said. Citing an
example, he said that one consumer was surprised to receive a
sudden visit by an individual claiming to be a representative of
a particular bank.
The man forced the consumer to repay his debt, amounting to
about Rp 2 million, of which he was not aware, because he had no
longer used the credit card.
Many consumers also complained that many banks hired uncouth
debt collectors to coerce credit card holders into repaying their
debts. Others also complained they were the target of credit card
fraud.
According to Yusuf, YLKI assisted bank customers by sending a
letter to the issuing banks concerned, with a copy addressed to
Bank Indonesia as the country's banking regulator.
"Complaints typically involve funds of less than Rp 5 billion,
so it is ineffective to take such cases to court," Yusuf said,
adding that some banks gave a quick response to complaints but
others simply did not care.
"What concerned the foundation most is that many banks ignored
the complaints. If such practices continue, we may consider
pursuing a class action or other legal action against the issuing
banks, he added.
Many banks have launched massive sales campaigns to attract
new credit card members through various incentive and cash prize
schemes.
The amount in interest, annual fees or other costs charged to
cardholders is often misrepresented because some of the banks are
not technologically ready to receive the influx of new members.