Kerala High Court orders SBI to make good Rs 3.73 lakhs lost by a customer in an OTP fraud

20 October 2026

Justice Harisankar V. Menon set aside a Banking Ombudsman order that had rejected the complaint of a State Bank of India account holder on the finding that she was privy to the transaction.
The petitioner had been told that non chip debit cards would be blocked from April 29, 2019, then received an SMS and a call, shared an OTP to register the State Bank Secure App, and the amount was debited at once.
She reported the fraud to customer care immediately and filed a police complaint, and the police identified one Sandip Bauri from West Bengal as the person who siphoned off the funds.
The court held that her case fell under clause 6(ii) of the RBI Master Circular and not clause 7(i), which covers loss from a customer's negligence in sharing payment credentials.
It followed a 2024 Gauhati High Court Division Bench judgment against which the Supreme Court dismissed a special leave petition on 03.01.2025.
It directed the bank to make good the loss of Rs 3.73 lakhs within 4 weeks.
The case is Remadevi T.L. v. Reserve Bank of India and Ors., W.P.(C) No. 28970 of 2021.