Overview
- HDFC Bank must return Rs 38.04 lakh within eight weeks with 6% interest, which rises to 8% if it misses the deadline.
- The court found the customer’s mobile number was swapped by fraudsters, so one-time passwords and SMS alerts never reached him.
- Three beneficiaries were added and the net-banking limit was raised from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 40 lakh, after which eight transfers drained the money in 41 minutes.
- The bank did not prove that alerts were delivered or that the customer was negligent, triggering zero liability under RBI guidance.
- HDFC’s internal records showed the disputed activity came from IP addresses in Chennai, not the customer’s usual IP, supporting that he did not initiate the transactions.