Terms and Conditions for Internet Banking


Introduction:

The facility of Internet Banking is provided only as a convenience to the Customer and the Customer may avail the facility at his own risk. By having an Account with the Bank and/or using of this facility the Customer agrees unconditionally not to contest any transaction carried out or not carried out by the Bank, over Internet Banking, and shall accept the record of the transaction maintained by the Bank, without any demur or protest, and hold the Bank harmless and blameless against any loss, or consequences thereof, arising from any transaction carried out or not carried out over Internet Banking. Against the above background, the Customer can use any services provided by the Bank over Internet. In addition to conditions and features as mentioned elsewhere in the Terms & Conditions, some of the additional conditions and features and the basis on which the Services, are offered by the Bank over Internet are given below:

Definitions:

In this document the following words and phrases have the meaning set opposite them unless the context indicates otherwise.

- Bank refers to IOB, a body corporate constituted under Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act 1970 having Central Office at 763, Anna Salai, Chennai-2, Tamil Nadu, India.

-'Internet' Banking is the trade name of the bank's Internet Banking service which provides access to account information, products and other services as
advised by the Bank from time to time to the Bank's customers through the Internet. Internet Banking, Electronic Banking, E-Banking and Internet Banking services/facility may be interchangeably used.

- Customer refers to any person who has an account with the Bank and who has been authorised by the bank to avail of the Internet Banking facility or for any other services.

- Account refers to the Customer's Savings and / or Current Account and / or Fixed Deposit and / or any other type of account so designated by the Bank to be eligible account(s) for operations through the use of Internet Banking. An account in the name of a minor or an account in which a minor is a joint
account holder, is not eligible to be an Internet Banking account

- Personal information refers to the information about the Customer obtained in connection with Internet Banking.

- Terms refer to Terms and conditions for use of Internet banking as specified in this document. In this document, all references to the Customer being referred in masculine gender will also include the feminine gender.

The technical terms shall be governed by the definitions given under the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Applicability of Terms:

These Terms form the contract between the Customer and the Bank. By applying for Internet Banking and accessing the service the Customer acknowledges and accepts these Terms. These Terms will be in addition to the terms and conditions relating to any account of the customer, agreed by the customer at the time of account opening. In the event of any conflict between these terms and those agreed at the time of opening of such account, these terms will prevail.

Application for Internet Banking:

The Bank may provide Internet Banking to selected Customers at its discretion. The customer would need to be a current Internet user or should have access to the Internet and knowledge of how the Internet works. Application for Internet Banking has to be made through the online registration. The acceptance of the registration does not automatically imply the acceptance of application for Internet Banking.

Software:

The Bank will advise from time to time the Internet software such as Browsers, which are required for Internet Banking. There will be no obligation on the Bank to support all the versions of the Internet software. The Customer shall upgrade his software, hardware and the operating system at his cost from time to time so as to be compatible with those of the Bank. The Bank shall be at liberty to change, vary or upgrade its software, hardware, operating systems etc from time to time and shall be under no obligation to support the software, hardware, operating systems of the customer. It shall be the sole responsibility of the customer/user to ensure support for the software/ hardware / operating systems, etc.

Where the customer operates from a country other than India , the customer is responsible for complying with the local laws of that country, including (but not limited to) obtaining any license.

The customer has to take appropriate measures at his costto protect his systems from the likes of hackers,virus attacks, etc. Measures include installation of effective anti-virus scanners, firewalls, etc.

Proprietary rights:

The customer acknowledges that the software underlying the Internet Banking service as well as other internet related software which are required for accessing Internet Banking are the legal property of the respective vendors. The permission given by the bank to access Internet Banking will not convey any proprietary or ownership rights in the above software to the customer / user.

The customer shall not attempt to modify, translate, disassemble, decompile or reverse engineer the software underlying Internet Banking or create any derivative product based on the software

Internet Banking Service:

The Bank shall endeavor to provide to the Customer through Internet Banking such services as the Bank may decide from time to time. The bank reserves the right to decide the type of services which a customer may be offered through Internet Banking at its sole discretion. The availability/non-availability of a particular service shall be advised through e-mail or web page of the Bank or written communication.

The Bank shall take reasonable care to ensure the security of and prevent unauthorized access to the Internet Banking service using technology reasonably available to the Bank.

The Customer shall not himself use or permit others to use Internet Banking or any related service for any illegal or improper purpose.

Internet Banking Access:

The Customer would register with a user_id and a password in the first instance. The Customer will be required to keep the password secret and change it frequently to ensure security.

In addition to user_id and password in the first instance, the Bank may, at its discretion, advise the Customer to adopt such other means of authentication including but not limited to digital certification and/or smart cards.

The Customer shall not attempt or permit others to attempt accessing the account information stored in the computers of the Bank through any means other than the Internet Banking Service.

Password / PIN:

i) The Customer must:

  •  Keep the password / pin totally confidential and not reveal the password / PIN to any third party.
  •  Choose a password which shall be at least 6 characters long and shall consist of a mix of alphabets, numbers which must not relate to any readily accessible personal data such as the Customer's name, address, telephone number, driver license etc, or easily guessable combination of letters and numbers.
  •  Choose a pin which shall be 4 digits long and must not relate to any readily accessible personal data such as telephone number, data of birth, etc or a easily guessable combination of numbers.
  •  Commit the password / PIN to memory and not record them in a written or electronic form and
  •  Not let any unauthorized person have access to his computer or leave the computer unattended while accessing Internet Banking.

ii) If the customer forgets the Internet Banking password or PIN, he may use the option "Forgot Password" / "Forgot PIN" to create a new password / PIN afresh. Incase he is unable to furnish the particulars required for creation of a new password / PIN he may download the prescribed form and send it duly signed to the concerned branch for issue of a new password / PIN.

iii) The customer shall hold the private key safely and confidentially which is corresponding to the public key listed in the Digital Signature Certificate.

iv) Any loss/liability arising/suffered by the Customer due to misuse/use by third party of the password / pin / digital signature or otherwise shall be the sole liability of the Customer and the Bank will not be responsible / liable for the same.

Joint Account:

The Internet Banking service will be available in case of joint accounts only if the mode of operation is indicated as 'either or survivor' or ' anyone or survivor'. For these joint accounts one Internet Banking user-id will be issued to one of the joint account holders. Bank has the option to issue additional user-id and password for any type of accounts including joint accounts. The other joint account holder(s) shall expressly agree with this arrangement and give their consent on the application form for use of Internet Banking. In case any of the joint account holder(s) gives "stop payment" instructions or request to discontinue Internet Banking service in respect of operations through the use of Internet Banking (or in writing) or by some other mode of authorized communication, on any of the Internet Banking -accounts held jointly by them, the Internet Banking service will be discontinued for the customer. In case of addition of new name in an existing account, this will automatically apply on him. All transactions arising from the use of Internet Banking to operate a joint account, shall be binding on all the joint account holders, jointly and severally.

Mailing Address:

All correspondence / delivery by the Bank shall only be made at the address and / or e-mail address as registered with the Bank. Bank shall not be responsible or liable for not sending or delay in sending any information or Alert on such e-mail address and the Customer shall hold the Bank harmless and indemnified against any loss or consequences thereof arising there from.

Bank has created specific procedures/options for processing transactions over the Internet. If the Customer gives instructions through other mechanisms (such as mail within Internet Banking, normal e-mail etc.), Bank will not be liable to process these transactions. If Bank does process these transactions for any reason however, Bank will not be liable for any associated consequences.

Transaction Processing:

All the requests for instantaneous transactions will be given effect instantaneously. All the requests for non-instantaneous transactions such as demand draft request, fixed deposit opening etc (when such services are introduced by the Bank) will be carried out at the end of the day on first-in-first-out basis subject to availability of clear funds in the account authorized for debit. In case requests for effecting any transactions are received on holidays/public holidays, they shall be effected on the immediately succeeding working day on the terms and conditions prevailing on that day.

If the addressee is the Bank, the time of receipt of the Electronic Record is the time when the Electronic Record is retrieved by the addressee branch and not the time when the Electronic Record enters the designated computer resource.

The Customer shall not hold the Bank responsible for not processing / effecting any transactions in case the Bank does not receive instruction to this effect even though the Customer has forwarded the same.

Funds Transfer:

The Customer shall not use or attempt to use Internet Banking for funds transfer without sufficient funds in the related account or without a pre-existing arrangement with the Bank for the grant of an overdraft. The Bank can, at its sole discretion, decide to carry out the instructions notwithstanding inadequacy of funds (or credit facilities). The Bank may do the aforesaid act without prior approval from or notice to the Customer and the Customer shall be responsible to repay with Interest as applicable to clean overdraft accounts

Authority to the Bank:

Internet Banking transactions in the Customer's Account(s) are permitted only after authentication of the Login_id and Password of the customer. The Bank shall have no obligation to verify the authenticity of any transaction received from the Customer through Internet Banking or purporting to have been sent by the Customer via Internet Banking other than by means of verification of the Login_id and the password.

The display or printed output that is produced by the Customer at the time of operation of Internet Banking is a record of the operation of the Internet access and shall not be construed as the Bank's record of the relative transactions. The Bank's own record of transactions maintained through computer systems or otherwise shall be accepted as conclusive and binding for all purposes unless any discrepancy is pointed out within one week from the date of access of his/her/their/its account by the Customer.

Accuracy of Information:

The customer is responsible for the correctness of information supplied to the Bank through the use of Internet Banking or through any other means such as electronic mail or written communication. The Bank accepts no liability for the consequence arising out of erroneous information supplied by the Customer. If the Customer suspects that there is an error in the information supplied to the Bank by him, he shall advise the Bank as soon as possible. The Bank will endeavour to correct the error wherever possible on a "best-efforts" basis, provided the Bank has not yet acted on the basis of such information.

All outputs of statements are duplicate statements of account and will be prepared by electronic means and the information contained therein will be extracted from a computerised back up system maintained by the Bank. While the Bank will take all reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of the statement, the Bank will not be liable for any error. The Customer shall hold the bank harmless and indemnified against any loss, damages etc., which may be incurred/suffered by the Customer if the information contained in the above said outputs turns out to be inaccurate/incorrect.

Liability of the customer / rights of the Bank:

The Customer shall be liable for all losses from unauthorized transactions in the Internet Banking accounts if he has breached the Terms or contributed to or caused the loss by negligent actions such as:

1. Keeping a written or electronic record of Internet Banking Password.
2. Disclosing or failing to take all reasonable steps to prevent disclosure of the Internet Banking Password to any one including Bank staff and/or failing to advise the Bank of such disclosure within reasonable time.
3. Not advising the Bank within a reasonable time about unauthorised access to or erroneous transaction in the Internet banking accounts.

The Bank may apply such technology as it deems fit to ensure the security of and prevent unauthorized access to the Internet Banking service. However it is universally understood that there is no way to verify the technologies foolproof or tamperproof qualities and/or to keep up with the latest technology as available at any particular time. The Customer shall use the Internet Banking with the full knowledge that it is not a secure medium and therefore all transactions on this medium shall be at Customer's risk. The Bank is/shall, not be liable or responsible for any transaction carried over Internet Banking or of any loss or consequences thereof, whatsoever.

The Customer shall be solely and fully liable for all losses and consequences thereof from any transaction carried out or not carried out on the basis of instructions received from Customer and/or incorrectly/incompletely carried out in his Account over Internet Banking. The Customer shall have no claim if Internet Banking access is not available in the desired manner for any reasons whatsoever including but not limited to natural calamity, floods, fire and other natural disasters, legal restraints, faults in the telecommunication network or Internet or network failure, software or hardware error or any other reason beyond the control of the Bank, except where the Bank has been grossly negligent, that is for events or acts attributable to its own omission, or lack of due care. It shall also under no circumstances be liable for any damages whatsoever whether such damages are direct, indirect, incidental, consequential and irrespective of whether any claim is based on loss of revenue, investment, production, goodwill, profit, interruption of business or any other loss of any character or nature whatsoever and whether sustained/suffered by the Customer or any other person due to any transaction carried out or not carried and/or incorrectly/incompletely carried out and/or being carried out with or without the Customer's knowledge or authority in the Account of any Customer and/or due to non-availability or partial availability of any medium of Internet Banking and/or due to any misuse of password(s) of the Customer by any other person or persons. The Transaction risk shall be to the account of the Customer excepting what is stated to be to the account of the Bank hereinabove.

Disclosure of Personal Information:

The customer agrees that the Bank may hold and process the Personal Information on computer or otherwise in connection with Internet Banking services as well as for statistical analysis and credit scoring. The customer also agrees that the bank may disclose, in strict confidence, to other institutions, such personal information as may be reasonably necessary for reasons inclusive of, but not limited to, the following:

i) For participation in any telecommunication or electronic clearing network

  •  In compliance with a legal directive
  •  For credit rating by recognised credit scoring agencies
  •  For fraud prevention purposes

The Bank cannot be held liable for any act or transaction based upon the Digital Signature Certificate issued by the Certifying Authority under the Information Technology Act, 2000 in the event of wrong certification of the Digital Signature.

The Bank shall be protected against the disclosure of the details of the account to Government of India or other Government or Public Authorities or Income Tax, Excise, Customs, Commercial Taxes Departments etc., when required by law.

The Bank shall not be held liable for any unauthorised transactions by any intruder without knowledge of the bank provided the bank acts upon the Digital Signature Certificate issued by the Certifying Authority.

In the case of "Either or Survivor" account or "Anyone or Survivor", if one party instructs the Bank to stop the operation of the account the bank shall not permit both / any of the parties to operate the account until both / all the parties give a joint request to allow resumption of operation of the account.

Indemnity:

The customer indemnifies and holds the bank harmless against any loss suffered by the bank, its customers or a third party or any claim or action brought by a third party which is in any way the result of the improper use of Internet Banking by the customer.

Bank's Lien:

The bank shall have the right of set-off and lien, irrespective of any other lien or charge, present as well as future on the deposits held in the customer's primary account and/ or; secondary account(s) or in any other account, whether in single name or joint name(s), to the extent of all outstanding dues, whatsoever, arising as a result of the Internet Banking service extended to and/ or used by the customer.

Links to third party web sites:

The Site may contain links to third party Web sites ("Linked Sites"). The Linked Sites are not under the control of the Bank and the Bank is not responsible for the contents of any Linked Site, including without limitation any link contained in a Linked Site or any changes or updates to a Linked Site. The Bank is not responsible in any form with regard to the transmission received from any Linked Site nor it is responsible if the Linked Site is not working appropriately. The Bank is providing these links to the customer only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by the Bank of the Linked Site or any association with its operators. The customer is responsible for viewing and abiding by the privacy statements and terms of use posted at the Linked Sites. The Bank does not make any claims, warranties and do not guarantee to the quality or otherwise, and shall not be liable for any compensation, directly or indirectly, whatsoever, for any third party product(s), services and/or promotions, displayed or recommended on the Site. The Bank is absolved of any kind of liability and/or any responsibility whatsoever arising out of the customer's dealings and interactions with the Linked Sites or any other third Party, for any reason whatsoever.

Change of Terms and Conditions:

The Bank has the absolute discretion to amend or supplement any of the Terms at any time and will endeavour to give prior notice for such changes wherever feasible except for changes which are subject to market/regulatory changes. The Bank may introduce new services within Internet Banking from time to time. The existence and availability of the new functions will be notified to the Customer as and when they become available. The changed terms and conditions applicable to the new Internet Banking services shall be communicated to the Customer. By using these new services, the Customer agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions applicable.

Minimum balance and charges:

The customer shall maintain, at all times, such minimum balance in Internet Banking account(s), as the bank may stipulate from time to time. The bank may, at its sole discretion, levy penal charges and / or service charges for non-maintenance of minimum balance. In addition to the minimum balance stipulation the bank may also levy service charges for use of Internet Banking at its sole discretion. The customer authorises the bank to recover all charges related to Internet Banking as determined by the Bank from time to time by debiting one of his Internet Banking accounts.

Termination of Internet Banking service:

The closure of all Accounts of the Customer will automatically terminate the Internet Banking service.

The customer may request for termination of the Internet Banking facility any time by giving a written notice of at least 15 days to the bank. The customer will remain responsible for any transactions made on his Internet Banking account(s) through Internet Banking prior to the time of such cancellation of the Internet Banking service.

The bank may withdraw the Internet Banking facility anytime provided the customer is given reasonable notice under the circumstances. If the Internet Banking service is withdrawn by the bank for a reason other than the breach of the terms and conditions by the customer, the bank's liability shall be restricted to the return of the annual charges, if any, recovered from the customer for the period in question

The bank may suspend or terminate Internet Banking facilities without prior notice if the customer has breached these terms and conditions or the bank learns of the death, bankruptcy or lack of legal capacity of the customer

Governing Law:

These terms and conditions and/ or the operations in the accounts of the customer maintained by the bank and/ or the use of the services provided through Internet Banking shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of India and no other nation. The customer and the bank agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in India under whose jurisdiction the branch in which the account is maintained function, as regards any claims or matters arising under these terms and conditions

The bank accepts no liability whatsoever, direct or indirect, for non-compliance with the laws of any country other than the republic of india . The mere fact that the Internet Banking service can be accessed through internet by a customer in a country other than india shall not be interpreted to imply that the laws of the said country govern the Bank and / or these terms and conditions and / or the operations in the Internet Banking accounts of the customer and / or the use of Internet Banking.

Disclaimer of Warranties :

i. The usage of this Site by the customer is at customer's sole risk and responsibility. The information provided on this Site is provided on an "as is" and
"as available" basis.

ii. The Bank hereby expressly and completely disclaim all warranties of any kind whatsoever, whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of accuracy, completeness, and merchantability for a particular purpose and non- infringement of intellectual policy.

iii. The customer accepts and expressly agrees that the Bank is not responsible or liable for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damage/loss whatsoever which may occur as a result of using any/all information whatsoever contained in this Site. The customer hereby accepts and agrees that the information contained here is only for individuals' informational purposes.

iv. The Bank further make no warranty of any kind whatsoever that the said information shall meet customers'; requirements, and in no event shall the Bank be liable in contract, tort, negligence or otherwise for any damages, whatsoever, (including, without limitation, to any kind of damages, interruptions, injuries of any kind whatsoever), arising out of the use of or inability to use the materials.

v. The Bank does not warrant that the functions contained in the materials will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that this Site or the server that makes it available are free of viruses or other harmful components.

vi. No advice or information, whether oral or written, directly or indirectly, in any medium whatsoever, obtained by the customer from this Site shall be deemed to create any warranty either expressly or impliedly whatsoever.

vii. Customers are encouraged to verify/ make their own personal inquiries before taking any action or making any final decision.

viii. This disclaimer applies in addition to any other disclaimer, if any on this Site and / or which may be included under this Agreement or on this Site.

Notices:

The Bank may publish notices of general nature, which are applicable to all Customers of Net Banking on its web site. Such notices will have the same effect as a notice served individually on each Customer.

In the event of any dispute, the court within whose jurisdiction the branch in which the account is maintained functions will have exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate such dispute and no other court shall have jurisdiction over the same.

Waiver:

The failure on the part of the Bank to exercise any rights as herein under in this premises or otherwise, lawfully, contractually or legally, available to it, or to exercise any option, right or remedy herein contained or otherwise, shall not be construed as a waiver or as a relinquishment of such term, provision, option, right or remedy, but the same shall continue and remain in full force and effect.

Further no single or partial exercise of any right, power, or remedy by the Bank shall limit/exclude any other or further exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right, power or remedy.

General:

The clause headings in this agreement are only for convenience and do not affect the meaning of the relative clause

The user shall not assign this agreement to anybody else. The bank may sub-contract and employ agents to carry out any of its obligations under this contract. The bank may transfer or assign its rights and obligations under this contract to any other company.