Bank converted your account to another product without consent? Undo it

Reviewed on: 2026-06-12.

Nikhil, a Bengaluru software engineer, noticed a debit of Rs 590 marked “MAB charges” on his ordinary savings account. At the branch he learnt his account had been upgraded months earlier to a “Platinum Savings” variant with a Rs 25,000 minimum average balance and a chargeable debit card. He had never signed a request. The relationship manager called it a free upgrade. The charges said otherwise.

This is mis-selling through unauthorised product conversion, and it is reversible. A bank needs your explicit consent to change your account variant, levy a different charge schedule, or issue a paid card in place of a free one. Your two demands are simple: restore the original product, and reverse every charge the unwanted product caused. If the bank does not do both within 30 days of a written complaint, the RBI Ombudsman at cms.rbi.org.in hears exactly this kind of deficiency, free of cost.

Ask the bank, in writing: “Provide the copy of my signed request or recorded consent on which this conversion was made.”

Everything turns on this. If the bank cannot produce a signed form, a recorded call, or an authenticated digital acceptance, the conversion stands unauthorised and the charges fall with it. Do not get pulled into arguments about whether the new product is better. Consent is the issue, not product features.

Send this by email to the branch and grievance cell so the date is stamped:

To: The Branch Manager, [Bank, Branch]

Subject: Unauthorised conversion of account [number] to [product name],
request for restoration and charge reversal

My account [number] was a [original product, e.g. regular savings account]
with [charge structure, e.g. no minimum balance requirement / Rs X MAB].
On checking my statement I find it was converted to [new product] on or
around [date] without my request or consent.

I request, within the bank's grievance timeline:
1. A copy of the signed request or recorded consent relied on for the
   conversion.
2. Restoration of the account to the original product with effect from the
   conversion date.
3. Reversal of all charges levied because of the conversion, listed below:
   [date, narration, amount for each].
4. A written reply with the complaint number.

[Name, account number, mobile, date]

List every charge line you can find: minimum balance penalties, card fees, SMS pack, “value-added services”. Banks reverse what you itemise and forget what you do not.

1. Principal nodal officer. Every bank publishes one on its grievance redressal page. Forward the same email with the complaint number and a line that the branch has not resolved it.
2. RBI Ombudsman. After 30 days from your first written complaint, or earlier on rejection, file at cms.rbi.org.in under the Reserve Bank Integrated Ombudsman Scheme, 2021. Upload the statement extract showing the conversion-linked charges and the bank's reply or silence. The Ombudsman can direct restoration and reversal, and can award compensation for proven loss.
3. Consumer route. For a continuing loss the consumer commission via e-Daakhil is open, but the Ombudsman route is faster and free, so use it first.

If your account is with a public-sector bank, the consent question becomes an RTI question. File an RTI with the bank's Public Information Officer asking for:

• a certified copy of the request form or consent record for the conversion of your account,
• the date and officer or system ID that effected the conversion,
• the bank's policy or circular under which accounts are migrated between variants without a customer request.

A PIO reply saying “no such record” is the strongest document you can attach to an Ombudsman complaint. See how to file RTI online and why RTI applications get rejected before drafting.

Private banks such as HDFC, ICICI, Axis and Kotak are not public authorities, so RTI does not apply to them. Many readers waste their 30-day window posting an RTI to a private bank's head office. For a private bank, the consent demand goes in the grievance complaint itself, and the escalation is the Ombudsman.

Branch staff carry targets for premium variants, paid cards and bundled insurance. A quiet variant migration books the target without the awkward sales conversation. Naming this in your complaint, politely, signals that you understand the incentive and will escalate. One line is enough: “I request that this also be examined as a mis-selling issue, since the conversion benefits the bank's product targets and was made without consent.”

• Accepting a verbal “we will reverse it” without a complaint number. Reversal promises without paper evaporate.
• Asking only for charge reversal and leaving the product converted. The charges will return next quarter.
• Closing the account in anger before the reversal. Recovering charges from a closed account takes far longer. If the bank also resists closure, see the guide linked below.
• Missing recurring small debits, such as SMS or card fees, that the new variant added.

Silence is not consent for a product change that increases your charges. An SMS notice does not replace a signed or authenticated request. Say in your complaint that you gave no positive consent.

A bank can discontinue a product and migrate customers, but it must notify you and cannot move you to a costlier product without choice. Ask for the circular under which the migration happened and check whether it offered an equivalent or no-cost option.

Ask for the specific clause. A general account-opening form rarely authorises future conversions to chargeable products. The Ombudsman looks for informed consent close in time to the change.

Claim from the conversion date. There is no fixed cap in the grievance route. List every charge with dates. For older accounts, download statements covering the full period since conversion.

A documented complaint is a normal banking process. Keep the tone factual. The reversal comes from the bank, not from the staff member's pocket.

Yes. The RBI Ombudsman scheme covers scheduled banks including small finance banks. The grievance, nodal officer and cms.rbi.org.in sequence is the same.

• Account wrongly tagged as a salary account
• Bank refuses closure and keeps deducting charges
• Bank credited you twice and wants it back
• Bank refuses premature FD closure
• All practical guides
• How to file RTI online

Download the unauthorised account conversion checklist (PDF).