Need Help for ICICI Bank NRE/NRO Account Closure

I have maintained ICICI NRE & NRO Accounts for over 4 years during my overseas employment.

I returned to India in 2021, and well over 180 days after my residence in India, I filled out a form for account closure in March’2022. I was asked to close my NRE & NRO accounts and open a separate savings account because the transfer process is lengthy. I was told to withdraw funds. And give a cheque for INR 20,000 for the new savings account opening.

Upon getting assurance from the branch manager himself, I filled up forms and wrote a cheque. I took a photo of both before submitting them.

I followed up again 3 times over 2 months on the phone. But got the same response that it’s under process. In the meanwhile, I registered a complaint to NRI HelpDesk:nri@icicibank.com, keeping the Branch Manager and Head of Service: headservicequality@icicibank.com in the CC. I went ahead and canceled the cheque as ICICI representatives can’t open my savings bank without first closing the NRI & NRO accounts.

I got this response from the bank asking for more information about the branch address;

I forgot about it, until I got email notification on - the bank sent renewed debit card to my old address a few months later, which was returned to the sender as I have changed city.

I sent the address in my reply to the first email chain and asked for the status but no response till now.

The account still shows active on iMobile. Even though my Visa & Passport is renewed and is not updated with the bank.

Now my worry is that I am having an NRE account as a resident Indian which is against the provisions of FEMA.

I need some help and clarity on the following:

  • Ways to close the account.
  • Get a response from the Bank via a Virtual/Online channel, as I am not traveling back to the same city in near future.
  • How can a bank renew my account and cards year after year without checking my NRI Status?
  • Where to take it further and get a NOC in the legal aspect.

Also, I have not attached all the emails to keep the thread short, I have the photo for the form submitted, with the representative’s name, my self-attested Adhar & PAN copy. The original email which bounced back from Branch Manager’s email due to the attached files.

Hello Datadiff,

How are you doing? Welcome to the group! Couple of points and clarifications with the disclaimer that I am not a lawyer.

a) It is my understanding that there was no need for you to wait for 180 days for account conversion since you are Indian Passport Holder (Things are different for foreign nationals). You could have just told the bank that you intend to stay back in India and this should have been sufficient enough for the bank to convert your NRO/NRE account to resident account. And the process is not very lengthy. You could have spoken to your branch manager or have intiated this process online via a service request.

b) Bookmark this link : https://cms.rbi.org.in/ . If you face any issues with the banks, just file a complaint with RBI and see how quickly your issue gets resolved. I have first hand experience.
Just file a case stating that the bank is not closing your NRE account.