Delhi consumer commission orders SBI Cards to refund Rs 15,000 of unauthorised card charges, with 7% interest

A Delhi district consumer commission has held SBI Cards and Payment Services Pvt. Ltd. (SBI Cards), a credit card issuer, liable for two charges a cardholder said they did not authorise. In an order dated 21 September 2026, reported by LiveLaw on 6 October, it directed the company to refund Rs 15,000 with 7% annual interest and to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation. The commission relied on an RBI circular of 6 July 2017 that limits what customers can be made to bear for unauthorised electronic banking transactions.

What the order says

The complaint was filed by a cardholder before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-I (North District), Delhi, under Section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. A consumer commission is a court-like body that hears complaints about deficient services.

According to the order, on 23 May 2024 the cardholder started a purchase on an app after seeing an advertisement. During this, Rs 10,000 and Rs 5,000 were charged to the cardholder’s card. The cardholder told SBI Cards the same day and the card was blocked at the cardholder’s request. A cyber-crime complaint followed on 28 May 2024. The cardholder said SBI Cards did not pursue a chargeback (the process of reversing a disputed card payment) or conclude any investigation despite repeated requests.

The complaint asked for Rs 15,000 with 18% interest and Rs 2,00,000 compensation. The commission did not grant those amounts.

Why the commission held SBI Cards liable

• Burden of proof. The commission cited the RBI circular (Customer Protection - Limiting Liability of Customers in Unauthorised Electronic Banking Transactions) as saying the customer can be held liable only for losses caused by the customer’s own negligence, and that proving this rests completely on the bank. It found SBI Cards had not discharged that burden.
• Prompt reporting. It noted that the circular gives zero liability to a customer where the unauthorised transaction arises from a third-party breach and the customer tells the bank within three working days. It found the complainant reported on the day of the transaction. It also noted there was no evidence that the complainant had shared an OTP or payment credentials with anyone.
• Provisional credit. The commission said paragraph 9 of the circular requires a bank to credit the disputed amount to the customer’s account within 10 working days of being notified, without waiting for an investigation to end. It found SBI Cards did not credit it in that period “or at any point thereafter”.
• 90-day limit. It said paragraph 10 requires a bank to resolve the complaint within its Board-approved policy time, and in no case beyond 90 days, and that SBI Cards did not.
• No written reply on record. SBI Cards did not file its written version within the period set by Section 38(2)(a) of the Act. Its later reply was filed after the 45-day statutory period and was not taken on record.

What the commission directed

Direction	Detail
Refund	Rs 15,000, with interest at 7% a year from the date of the transaction
Compensation	Rs 10,000 for harassment and mental agony
Time allowed	Four weeks from receipt of the order
If not paid in time	Interest at 9% a year on the entire awarded amount from the end of the four weeks

The order is a decision in one individual complaint by a district-level commission. The sources do not say whether SBI Cards has appealed or responded to the order.

Basis of these figures

All amounts, dates, paragraph references and directions are taken from the commission’s order in Consumer Complaint No. DC/80/CC/370/2024, which is dated 21 September 2026. The reporting date and case title were cross-checked against LiveLaw and LawChakra. The description of the RBI circular is as stated in the order; read the circular itself for its full text.