The District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission,Balangir.
Presents:-
1 Smt S.Rath , President
2 Sri H Padhan, Member.
Dated, Bolangir the 4 th day of March ‘2021
C.C.No-27 of 2020.
Kishor Mohan Mishra S/O-Late kasinath Mishra,Occupation –Retd mechanical Engineer,R/O-Gandhinagarpada,Post/P.S/Dist-Balangir…..Complainant.
Vrs.
1.the New India Assurance Comaony Ltd,HIG-4/12,Omfed Chawk Chandrasekhrpur,Bhunaneswar.
2.The New India Assurance Company Ltd,Vss Nagar,Near Hotel Upahar Sambalpur-768001.
3.The New India Assurance Company Ltd, Surya Building Samaleswari Road,Balangir…………………………………………………………..Opposite Parties.
Adv. For the Complainant: - None
Adv. For O.P :- - R.K.Mahakur
Date of filing of the Case :- 31.08.2020
Date of Order :- 04.03.2021
:-
JUDGMENT
Smt S.Rath , President (I/c)
Brief Facts of the Case ;-
In Brief the facts of the Case of the Complainant is that he is an owner of a Honda city Car vide regd. No-OD 03 H 1156 and has insured his
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said car with the Opposite Parties Company in the mode of Comprehensive Policy vide Policy No-55090231190100000151 by paying the required amount of Premium to the Opposite Parties, But on Dt.1.09.2019 it was damaged in an heavy rain Night damaging both the front and rear view glasses ,back light ,rear door and the Air Conditioner unit Completely to which he reported before the town Police Balangir on the next day i.e.Dt.2.09.2019 and also the same was registered vide GD N0-5 and the Police Conducted enquiry on the same and submitted his report, And simultaneously the Complainant also informed about the same to the Opposite Parties, to which he was informed in return to take the same vehicle to the Service Centre Sambalpur since there was no such facility at Balangir by then accordingly he took the same to Sambalpur and subsequently thereafter a surveyor of the O.Ps was deputed to survey the said vehicle and accordingly he took up survey and assement of the Loss caused to the Vehicle and submitted his report to the O.Ps and advised at the service centre to carry on the required repair work .
And his further case is that the said service centre namely M/S/-City Motors carried out the repair work and submitted their billing amount vide Invoice No-SR no-24519-2166 for an amount Of Rs34,, 757/- and another Bill amount of Rs.7407 vide their invoice No-SR24519-2393, which was substantiated by the report of the surveyor of the Opposite Parties and as such he submitted the same before the O.Ps with his Claim for the total amount of Rs.42,164/-
But his grievance is that the Opposite Parties credited an amount of Rs.16,000/-only in his Bank account, to which he was being quite surprised requested the Opposite Parties to give him the rest amount even though it was lesser than the estimated value of repair given by it’s authorised Service Centre both orally and also in writing .But the Opposite Parties did not ad hear to his complain and claim which of such acts on their part amounts to unfair trade practice coupled with deficiencies of service as per him and as such the cause of action arose in filing the case against the opposite parties to which
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they are liable jointly and severally, And in substantiating his case has relied upon the following documents,
I, Copy of Insurance Policy,
ii. Copy of the F.I.R.
iii. Copy of estimate by City Motors.
iv. Surveyor’s Report dtd.01.11.2029.
v. letter to Branch Manager NIACL dtd.20.12.2019.
vi. Copy of invoices-2Nos.
Having gone through the Complaint ,it’s accompanied documents and on hearing the Complainant prima facie it seemed to be a genuine case hence admitted and notice to the Opposite Parties were served and in response they appeared through their Counsel and filed their Version ,
The Rival Contention as per their version is a partial denial to the case of the Complainant ,as per their averment it is admitted that they have insured the said Car of the Complainant also admitted that the matter of damage to the same has been reported to the Police and has submitted his report but is not consistent to his case ,further has admitted in their version that on getting the information have deputed their authorised surveyor and accordingly following the terms and conditions he has submitted his report with regard to the amount of Compensation and further have admitted that on the basis of his report and as per the terms and condition of the policy they have settled the final compensation amount for Rs.16,000/- denying all the averment of the Complainant praying before the Forum to dismiss the case relying on the following documents .
1. Copy of the Insurance Policy.
.2.Copy of police report with endorsement by SI town police Balangir –GD-5 Dt.02.09.2019.
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3. Copy of Motor own Damage Claim Form Dt.05.09.2020 by the Complainant.
4 Copy of Estimate of report by Central Honda City Motors Pvt Ltd.
5. Copy of Tax Invoice of city Motors Pvt Ltd vide Invoice No-SR24519-2166.
6 Copy of final Motors survey report by Satyajit Pattanaik,Srveyor & Loss Assessor, Sambalpur Dt.01.11.2019.
7. Copy of Motor Bill checking Sheet Dt,11.11.2019.
Having gone through the Complaint it’s accompanied documents and the version and documents filed by the O.Ps and on hearing their respective Counsels very carefully it came to our Notice that the case with regard to the Claim of the Complainant that his said vehicle has been damaged in the particular Night having being substantiated by the Police report and also the report of the surveyor of the O.Ps and also the admission of the O.Ps in their version also suffice the matter to come to a conclusion that the Vehicle of the Complainant has been damaged and the same was referred to the service centre of the City Honda Sambalpur also it is an admitted case of both the parties that the same vehicle was undertaken by the said service centre for repair on submission of estimated bill by it.
But the only point of determination is with regard to the amount of compensation to be awarded to the Complainant , in this regard after careful scrutiny of the materials available in the record it reveals that an amount of Rs.52,212/-has been estimated by the said service centre for the required repair of the said vehicle and also it reveals from such materials available in the record the Tax invoice receipt of the service centre that an amount of Rs.42,164 /-is issued with for complete repair undertaken by it.on further perusal of the record it has came to our Notice that an amount of Rs.16,000/- has been credited by the Opposite Parties in the Bank account of the Complainant, So in this Context while examining the logic and authenticity of such payment by the Opposite Parties it reveals that in their reply to the case of the Complainant in claiming for rest amount of payment, it seems to be
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inconsistent to their own admission as they have deputed their auhorised surveyor to assess and to report about the case in hand in accordance with the terms and condition of their policy and on the other hand also have claimed to justify their settlement amount of Rs.16,000/-is correct with an averment that even after the report of the surveyor is there, they reserve a right to assess the Loss on their own as per the terms and condition of the Policy of their company which seems to be an inconsistent one and unilateral decision on their part ,hence we are of the view that such an act of the Opposite Parties is proved to be an an act amounting to unfair trade practice and deficiencies of service on their part for which our view is expressed accordingly in favour of the Complainant with a further expression of our view to the entitlement of the Complainant with regard to his Claim to the extent of the Final assessment report of the Loss assessor i.e an amount of Rs.24,555/-.
On our further Observation of the details of the case in hand it is observed that because of such callous attitude of the opposite Parties the Complainant has undergone with mental, physical and financial harassment for which also in our view is entitled for an amount of Rs.3000/- as compensation to which all the opposite parties are jointly and severally liable . And because of their such deficient acts , the Complainant has been bound to file the case as such is entitled for an amount of Rs.2000/- towards Litigation expenses. Hence our Order follows.
Order.
In view of the facts and circumstances as narrated above the Opposite Parties are Jointly directed to pay an amount of Rs.24555/- in total to the Complainant but subject to due deduction of Rs.16000/- which is already credited to the Account of the Complainant i.e.an amount of Rs.8555/-with an interest @ 6% P.A. from the date of filing of the case within thirty days of the order and also directed to pay an amount of Rs.3000/-to the Complainant towards compensation for his mental, physical and financial harassment and an amount of Rs.2000/- towards his Litigation expenses. In
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default of which the total amount would accrue an interest @ 9% P.A.till the actual realisation of the total amount.
In the result the Complaint is allowed against the Opposite Parties and the order being pronounced in the Open Commission is disposed off to-day i.e on Dtd.04.03.2021
(H.Padhan) (S.Rath)
MEMBER. PRESIDENT(I/c)
