CHENNAI: Several customers of HDFC Bank had the fleeting fortune of being millionaires for a few hours as their account balances shot up to as much as Rs 13 crore overnight on Sunday, thanks to what the bank later called a technical glitch. The bank promptly blocked the accounts to rectify the problem.
One customer, Narean (name changed) of Periyanayakkanpalayam, was puzzled after his account balance showed a whopping Rs 2.2 crore on Sunday morning. He received an account balance message after he used his HDFC Bank debit card to fill fuel for his car for Rs 1,000. He immediately reported it to bank officials and his account was blocked.
According to sources, several such cases were reported from the bank's branch on Burkit Road in Chennai. A businessman, who has an account in the branch, saw his balance jump to Rs 13 crore. "I didn't receive any message stating that 2.2 crore was credited to my account. I found this out only when I checked the balance in my account in the debit message. When I checked the balance through online banking, it also showed Rs 2.2 crore. I couldn’t perform any transactions after that but I didn’t face much trouble as it was a Sunday," said Narean.
Another customer said his account balance went up to Rs 50 lakh due to the glitch. However, he struggled to make payments throughout the day. "I couldn’t use my card to pay my hospital bill as it was blocked. Though I contacted the customer care several times, I didn’t get a proper answer," he said.
Pan-India issue 80 per cent resolved, say bankers
My balance went from Rs 300 to Rs 1.2 crore when I checked the HDFC app on Sunday morning. However, it was blocked and the balance declined to Rs 300 again within hours, said M Kannan, who maintains an account at the bank's GP Road branch.
Bank officials said the problem surfaced after routine maintenance work was carried out on Saturday. "We detected the issue and blocked debit services of these accounts. It was a pan-India issue and more than 80 per cent of it has been resolved. The issue was reported in around 10 per cent of the bank's branches in Chennai," bankers said.