If you’ve read the mutual fund disclaimer: “Read the offer document carefully before investing,” it is time you applied it to all your money transactions. Banks, airline aggregators, e-commerce companies and charity organizations are increasingly using a pre-ticked box to assume your consent to a small payment. You are given, what is called, an ‘opt-out’ option so that you can click a box to refuse the extra payment. Here is how it happens and what you should do about it.
Opt-out options
Recently, HDFC Bank Ltd sent out an email to some of its customers about its service Classic Banking Programme. Mint has several copies of this email from different customers. At a glance, the email looks similar to the deluge in your inbox from your financial service providers, but this one has a small fee built into the fine print. The email said: “A nominal Programme Management fee of Rs100+ service taxes is applicable per customer ID, on the Classic Banking Programme for Savings and Current Account holders, effective Jan’16 post 1 year of completion into the programme. If you wish to opt out of the Classic Banking Programme, click here.”
Why assume consent? Why not ask if the customer wants the service and then levy the charge? The bank spokesperson we spoke to said: “We’d like to state that the bank has been fair and transparent by giving customers the opportunity to test the service free of cost for a full year before levying any charges; providing an opt-out facility for those who do not wish to avail of these services after the first year and communicating the charges to customers at regular intervals, in the welcome letter and subsequently in their monthly statements.... Furthermore, based on feedback, we will continue to evaluate different modes of communicating to our customers, to determine what is most effective. The relationship manager can be reached at any time in case the customer would like to opt-out of the programme.”
Banks are not alone in assuming that you want to pay for stuff you may or may not need. Some e-commerce companies are known to add charges at the check-out stage, for premier services you may not need, once the free trial period is over. Airline aggregators are no different, some of them pre-tick the “I want travel insurance” box. You have to remember to untick it. Similarly, if you book tickets online, you find yourself paying for a charity you may or may not want to fund. “We have ensured that all customers are communicated the fee through various modes, giving them adequate time to withdraw from the programme in case they so desire. This includes the welcome communication, the monthly bank statement and also the option of contacting the assigned relationship manager in case of any disagreement.... The relationship manager can be reached at any time in case the customer would like to opt-out of the programme,” said an HDFC Bank spokesperson.
The trick to avoiding auto opt-in traps
There is no other option but to be careful when paying online or when you get a communication from your bank or service provider.
Usually, the amounts charged for such services—where your intent to opt-in is assumed—is not very large and at times you may just miss to notice them. The solution to this new issue, however, is age old: ‘caveat emptor’ as they say in Latin or ‘buyer beware’ in common parlance
