The bank can deny you payment on the grounds that ATM cards are non-transferable instruments, which means that only the account holder should use it.

A Bengaluru woman who was on maternity leave lost her court battle against the bank on the same argument. In 2013, a Marthalli (Bengaluru) resident gave her ATM card with its pin to her husband to withdraw Rs 25,000. The couple claimed that after swiping the card at an SBI (State Bank of India) ATM, the machine only dispensed a slip showing the amount being debited from the account, without releasing any cash.

On filing a complaint with the SBI authorities, the case was closed shortly stating that the ATM is non-transferable. As the account holder was not present at the ATM when the transaction took place, the claim was rejected.

The couple after several efforts even got the CCTV showing the husband using the ATM and no dispensed cash during the event and made numerous complaints at the bank, Banking Ombudsman and Consumer Redressal Forum. The bank said that since the cardholder is not present in the footage, the claim was rejected and the case closed.

This year, in a final verdict, the Consumer Court ruled that the wife should have issued a self-cheque or an authorization letter to her husband to withdraw the said amount instead of sharing confidential ATM pin and dismissed the case.