Missed paying your credit card bill? You could face criminal charges

SBI Cards IPO prospectus has released data which reveals that the company has filed 19,201 cases under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act and 14,174 cases under Section 25 of the Payment and Settlement Act 2007.

Section 138 is for cheque bouncing whereas Section 25 is for failure in electronic payment deduction due to insufficient funds.

Interestingly, the cumulative amounts for these cases are just Rs.25.52 crores and Rs.72.6 crores respectively. An average of Rs.13,290 and Rs.51,220.

“SBI Cards may block the customer’s account, in the event payment is not received within stipulated payment due date, as communicated through statements and SMS," says the footnote.

No debt is too small and one could face criminal charges for failing to repay the debt or EMI of the card.