The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Consumer forum directs bank to pay compensation to businessman

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 25, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Consumer forum directs bank to pay compensation to businessman

K.T. Sangameswaran

The bank did not respond to the customer's several reminders and this was service deficiency

CHENNAI: A city consumer forum has directed the ICICI Bank to pay a businessman Rs. 5,000 as compensation and Rs. 1,000 as costs for deficiency in service.

In his complaint to the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chennai (South), P.R. Raju of Royapettah submitted that the bank granted him Rs. 90,000 as loan in November 2003, which was to be repaid in monthly instalments through electronic clearance service. While Rs. 21,890 was credited in his savings bank account in the Besant Nagar branch, a banker's cheque for Rs. 68,110 was issued in favour of another bank, which, due to certain technical defects, returned the cheque.

He returned the banker's cheque to the personal loan section, Santhome, with a request for certain changes in the drawee's name to enable him to utilise the cheque for another purpose.

The cheque was returned to the bank's head office in Mumbai, but there was no acknowledgement. He sent several reminders. After 45 days, the head office replied it was processing his request.

He intimated the bank he had transferred the savings bank account from the Besant Nagar branch to Royapettah to enable it to contact the new branch for collection. But the bank failed to take note of it. Despite his intimation and also that the repayment was through the ECS, the bank replied as if the complainant committed a mistake in not remitting the cheque to clear the next instalment in time.

He wrote to the bank again, but it evoked no response. This amounted to deficiency in service, the complainant submitted.

Besides the Personal Loan Section, the bank represented by the Manager, Gandhi Mandapam Road, Kotturpuram, were cited as the opposite parties.

The opposite parties were called absent and set ex-parte.

In the order, the forum president, R. Aparna, and members, V. Sheeba and J. Kadirvel, said the bank had not responded to the several reminders of the complainant. The bank, which was aware that the repayment should be made only through the ECS, ought not to have sought for cheque clearance.

The complainant had mentioned that he transferred the savings bank account from the Besant Nagar branch to Royapettah.

The bank did not redress the grievance of the complainant.

The Bench held there was deficiency in service by the bank and awarded the compensation.

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