nagpur :- HDFC's net banking is not accessible from other websites

HDFC Bank customers are facing glitches while using the internet banking facility at non-HDFC websites of late. Available as a convenient mode of making bill payments till just a month ago, customers have not been able to access this facility through their service providers` website.

Even as other modes of online payment are available, there are many who prefer using the internet banking system to log on from their service providers` website. Such customers have been left high and dry recently, if they are not comfortable with the alternative methods of payment, like using credit or debit cards.

Under this system, a customer who wants to pay a telephone bill, for example, can go to the phone company`s website and click on the option of internet payment. After that, the customer can click on the HDFC Bank option to log into his internet banking account and complete the payment. However, since more than a month this mode of payment has stopped working.

Clicking on HDFC Bank`s internet banking option shows a message that the facility is under repair or it cannot be used as there are some issues with HDFC Bank.

According to an estimate by officials, there are around 18 lakh internet banking service users. The bank`s spokesperson in Mumbai said the glitch was due to an upgradation exercise underway and the services will be restored soon. In the meanwhile, customers can pay their bills using the debit card or credit card option available at the service providers` website itself or by directly logging into the HDFC Bank net banking system, he said.

On being asked if there is any specific bottleneck in the system, the spokesperson stressed that it is an upgradation process and not a glitch. "Such processes take their own time and customers can expect a better system in place within a week or so," he said. On being asked for an explanation of the `upgradation`, he said it was too complex a procedure to be understood easily.

The spokesperson added that customers had been informed about using the alternative methods, and it is possible that Nagpur used were left out.

"If you use the direct payment option, funds can be transferred from any of the accounts. In debit card mode, funds have to be transferred only from the designated account. What if one has funds in another account and wants to use that one," questioned a customer.