Jane Lai

BANKS should be held liable for Automated Teller Machine (ATM) faults, the Shenzhen Consumer Council said in a report on recent ATM disputes released recently.

Some banks attempted to shirk responsibility and were found to have offered poor service in cases where the ATMs accepted customers?ˉ cash but did not record the deposit and other instances where ATMs recorded withdrawals but did not pay.

On April 8, a Nanjing resident asked a friend to send him a recliner and bedding because he had to stay in front of an ATM overnight to make sure the 10,000-yuan (US$1,429) cash he had just deposited in his account, but then went missing, would be returned by the bank.

He left the ATM at midnight after bank employees repeatedly promised that his deposit would be refunded, even though he didn't have a receipt.

On Jan. 23, a Shenzhen resident surnamed Pu found that 16,500 yuan he had just deposited in his account was missing when he checked at an ATM. He insisted on seeing the manager and was told that around five people had the same problem on that day. He left after a manager gave him a telephone number to help him track down the missing deposit.

The Shenzhen Consumer Council said if a bank failed to fulfill its obligation in terms of offering ATM services that were designed to relieve the load of counter services, the bank should be held responsible for any breach of contract.

It said banks should also notify clients of ATM faults to avoid repeated transaction failures and provide regular maintenance of ATMs. Banks should correct transaction abnormalities quickly and refund losses.

Liu Tianjun, a lawyer with the Guangdong Jiahui Law Firm, agreed with the Shenzhen Consumer Council, saying that so long as the consumers conduct bank transactions according to the law, faults occurring in the ATMs should be the responsibility of the banks.

Liu also suggested consumers with faulted ATM transactions, particularly those without receipts, stay at the scene until employees or the 24-hour help lines of the banks help solve the problems to avoid disputes, waste of time and losses.

The council and Liu both requested State-owned banks to improve their services to compete with foreign banks that are expanding aggressively and offering comprehensive customer-friendly services.