I have a bank account with Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) and took a personal loan in June 2014. I have been paying my monthly instalment on time and have never been late. About three months ago, I noticed that bank was giving me 10 per cent over credit limit on my salary every month and was charging Dh25 for the same. However, there is no specific date to charge that amount.

The due date on my personal finance loan in the amount of Dh2,214 is deducted on the first of every month. On October 31, I deposited Dh2,200 to my account and had Dh34.60 in overdraft limit. In total, I had Dh2,234.60 in my account, which was enough for my instalment. However the bank deducted Dh25 on the night of October 31 for the over credit, which I was not aware of. As a result, I had Dh2,209 left in my account, which is short of Dh4.60 for my instalment.

Then, on November 1, I was charged Dh2,209 for my personal loan with the shortage of Dh4.60 and due to that, the bank charged me Dh175 for late payment fee.

This is not my mistake because as per my knowledge, I did have enough balance to pay my instalment. I am requesting you to kindly look into this matter and help me out because due to this, I will not be eligible for any kind of loan from the bank in the future. In addition, I was penalised Dh175 for nothing.

From Mr Usman Saleem

Sharjah

The management of DIB responds: Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB) would like to confirm that our customer service team has been in touch with Mr Saleem to make the necessary clarifications with regards to his complaint.

The customer has registered for the over credit limit service and used all the funds within the provided limits. Also, Mr Saleem has failed to maintain sufficient amount in his bank account to cover his monthly instalment and as such, he has been charged the late payment fee of Dh175 as per the regular bank protocol.

Given the above, the bank considers the case to be closed now as the customer is not eligible for a refund. We would like to remind our customers to always keep track of their payments and make sure they have a sufficient balance in order to avoid paying any late payment charges.

(Process initiation: December 15. Response from organisation: January 12. Process completion: January 26)

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