Prof Vijay Kolhe didn’t know what to make of the credit card bill in his hand. How could anyone expect him to pay Rs 50,000 for transactions he never entered into? Run-up to Budget 2008-09

The delivery of a credit card in his name was itself a mystery. An old-world person, he had never quite got used to the technological innovations put in place by the banks in recent years and chose to stand in a queue to deposit or withdraw cash. For him to have asked a bank to issue him a credit card? Unthinkable, especially since he knew how debt-stressed some of his students were after usage of credit cards.

It must have been the handiwork of some prankster students, getting his personal details from college records and ordering for a credit card to be delivered at his home. Horrified at the sight of the card when it arrived, he had dumped it in his dustbin, little realising someone else could use it.

And now, he faced a charge that was almost double his take-home, an amount he wouldn’t dare spend in a year.

Moral of the story: If you have received a credit card that you don’t want, dispose of it safely.

And how do you do that? When the delivery boy knocks and tells you he has a credit card for you, decline to accept it.

Says Subrat Pani, head of the credit cards division at Kotak Mahindra Bank: “Credit cards have to be delivered to only the card holder. If you decline the card, the bank has no proof of it being delivered to you. So, the onus lies on the bank in case of fraudulent transactions.”

Some, though, feel you should not decline the card.

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