Kotak called me with a pre-approved LTF credit card offer, instantly generated the card, but customer care says it’s FYF. Is this a strong RBI Ombudsman case?

I received an unsolicited call from someone claiming to be from Kotak Mahindra Bank (or their authorized sales partner), saying I was eligible for a pre-approved Kotak RuPay Cashback Credit Card.

I made it very clear that I was only interested if the card was Lifetime Free (LTF). The representative assured me at least five times that it was LTF. They even said the call was being recorded, so I trusted what they were saying.

Based on those assurances, they completed the verification and the credit card application was instantly generated online with an application number while I was still on the call.

Later, I called Kotak customer care to verify the offer, and they told me the card is actually First Year Free (FYF), not Lifetime Free.

When I confronted the sales representative, they simply told me to “wait until the card is delivered” and that I’d receive confirmation later that it was LTF. That response made me feel like they just wanted to get the application generated so they could receive their sales incentive.

The calls came from:

• +91 1600 30 3088
• +91 92116 57566

The caller claimed to be from Kotak, although they may have been an authorized third-party sales agency (DSA).

This also isn’t the first time I’ve had an issue with misleading sales practices related to Kotak. I had previously raised a complaint regarding misleading information on a PVR Debit Card as well.

I’ve now emailed Kotak asking them to:

• Confirm whether the card is LTF or FYF.
• Review the recorded sales call.
• Honour the LTF promise if the recording confirms what was said.
• Investigate the conduct of the representative.

If they don’t provide a satisfactory resolution, I plan to go through Kotak’s grievance escalation process and then approach the RBI Integrated Ombudsman.

Has anyone here dealt with a similar LTF/FYF mis-selling issue?

• Has the RBI Ombudsman helped in cases where the bank has the call recording but the customer doesn’t?
• Can the Ombudsman require the bank to review or produce the sales recording?
• Does the fact that Kotak approached me with a pre-approved offer and instantly generated the application based on the LTF promise make my case stronger?
• Is there anything else I should do now to maximize my chances if I need to escalate this?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s gone through a similar situation.