Submitted by: EmilNor
Complaint Details:
My daughter is an NRI and I have invested in various mutual funds on her behalf. We had to make a large payment to a builder by Oct 31st and hence I redeemed a few mutual fund holdings on Oct 25th in order that the bank a/c may have enough balance to cover the amount of the cheque issued.
While the funds from other mutual funds reached the a/c by Oct 30, the funds from ICICI Prudential mutual fund did not. I called their toll free number on Oct 31st to inquire the reason. I was told it was because the FIRC was pending. I was told because of this, they couldn’t do the fund transfer but had mailed me cheques. Note that I am currently working in Pune but my residence is in Mumbai. I was told that for FIRC I had to simply send an account statement by email to enquiry@icicipruamc.com. I called again the same day for some clarifications and I was told that if I sent it immediately, they would transfer the funds because the cheque was not sent but instructions for printing the cheques have been issued. I immediately downloaded the statement of the last 2 months and emailed it.
The next day, I got a call from the courier delivery guy in Mumbai that there was something for me from ICICI and I requested him to deliver to my neighbour. At my request, my neighbour opened the envelopes and confirmed that the cheques were in the envelopes.
On Friday Nov 3rd evening, as I was driving from Pune to Mumbai, I got a call
from someone from ICICI saying that I needed to send bank a/c statement for FIRC. I told him I had already sent it but he had no record of it. During the conversation, I realised that the statement needs to cover the dates of the purchases. I told him to email me with the corresponding dates notified.
During this conversation, he also told me that I would not be able to deposit the cheques without a letter from ICICI Pru that the funds could be deposited in a NRE a/c.
1. The other mutual funds redeemed the units and credited the NRE a/c without any other documentation. Only ICICI Pru demands the FIRC.
2. There is only one bank a/c registered for this folio and that is a NRE a/c.
3. All purchases were made via netbanking from the same a/c. It is not possible to use another a/c for purchase. Why is FIRC required?
4. We had not been informed about the FIRC requirement when purchases were made years ago. Even when redeeming, we were not intimated. It is only when I called to ask the status of the funds, I was told about the FIRC requirement.
5. My units have been debited on October 25th or 26th. My funds have not reached me. Who bears the loss?
6. I have lost the trust of the person to whom I had issued the cheque. Who will restore it?
7. Today is Nov 7th the 14th day since redemption and neither have I got the money nor am I told what is the status.
8. When I call the toll free number, it takes long to be able to speak to a person and the line gets disconnected before I am done. Today I could not get a resolution after a 13 minute call which the got disconnected. The next attempt got disconnected before a person came on the line. A regular feature.
When I call the escalation number listed on their website, [protected], it does not even ring.