Did You Also Receive This Email From Axis Bank?

In Q2 of FY 2023-24, Axis Bank issued over 1 million new credit cards and became India’s fourth-largest credit card issuing company. However, a technical glitch in its Edge Rewards Program has threatened to destabilise its financial position by allowing its customers to make high-value transactions for free. How did this happen?

In 2023, a technical glitch in Axis Bank’s reward points allocation system enabled its credit card users to achieve higher reward points without actually spending any money. This happened when consumers placed high-value orders to earn reward points and later cancelled the transaction, which remained undetected by the system.

What Happened?

On Monday morning, Axis Bank mailed its customers, stating, “Due to a technical issue, EDGE REWARD points corresponding to cancelled/reversed/EMI transactions on your Axis Bank Credit Card/s during April’23-Jan’24 were not reversed. These points have now been deducted from your EDGE REWARDS account.”

“Since you redeemed X excess reward points beyond what was rightfully accrued by your transactions, we request you to pay INR Y to the bank as per the MITC clause.”

Axis Bank has justified this action by saying that these transactions were made unfairly and were not aligned with its most important terms and conditions (MITC). Moreover, the bank has also threatened its customers to take legal action if their negative points balance is not settled, thereby raising significant concerns over customer rights as laid down by the RBI.

Customer Backlash: What Went Wrong?

1. Axis Bank’s Edge Rewards program has been frequently challenged by technical glitches, yet the RBI has made no regulatory intervention for securing customer rights.
2. Axis Bank is demanding ₹0.40 per reward point misused by credit card users, which was initially worth ₹0.20. This has highlighted its inconsistent policy of reward point pricing, thereby raising questions of fairness and transparency.
3. Former credit card users of Axis Bank are also subject to the new rules, thereby raising legal questions regarding reward points settlement in cash since the rules did not exist in 2023.

Conclusion

The Axis Bank reward points controversy has sparked significant debate over fairness, transparency, and customer rights. While the bank seeks to recover excess reward points redeemed due to a technical glitch, its approach has raised legal and ethical concerns.

The demand for repayment, especially from former customers and at an inflated rate, questions the fairness of its policies.

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