THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, AMRITSAR
Consumer Complaint No. 251 of 2014
Date of Institution : 7.5.2014
Date of Decision : 01.07.2015
Mrs. Dev Shakti wife of Shri Omkar Sharma resident of 16-B, Kangra Colony, Amritsar
...Complainant
Vs.
Aviva Life Insurance Co.Ltd., through its Chairman/Managing Director/Principal Officer service through its branch office District Shopping Complex, Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar through its branch manager
....Opp.parties
Complaint under section 12/13 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986
Present : For the complainant : Sh. Deepinder Singh,Advocate
For the opposite party : Sh. S.K.Vyas,Advocate
Quorum : Sh. Bhupinder Singh, President ,Ms. Kulwant Bajwa,Member & Sh.Anoop Sharma,Member
Order dictated by :-
Bhupinder Singh, President
1 Present complaint has been filed by Mrs. Dev Shakti under the provisions of
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the Consumer Protection Act alleging therein that she obtained policy bearing No. APG1857455 with premium of Rs. 1,00,000/- from the opposite party and paid four premium and thus paid total amount of Rs. 4 lacs. The said policy matured on 14.2.2013 but the opposite party did not make payment to the complainant and opposite party wrote letter dated 18.5.2013 to the complainant intimating the complainant that his policy has matured on 14.2.2013 but the complainant is not entitled for dues of policy and he is only entitled for pension. Complainant has alleged that he only opted for investment purpose and not for pension purpose. The complainant requested the opposite party to make payment of maturity amount but to no avail. Alleging the same to be deficiency in service complaint was filed seeking directions to the opposite party to make payment of maturity amount alongwith interest @ 12% p.a. Compensation of Rs. 50000/- alongwith litigation expenses were also demanded.
2. On notice opposite party appeared and filed written version in which it was submitted that upon maturity of the policy, the complainant was duly intimated on the available mobile number but he could not be contacted and again SMS were sent to the complainant on his mobile on 31.12.2012, 16.1.2013. In addition to that maturity intimation letter was duly sent to the complainant on 28.12.2012 which was received by the complainant on 31.12.2012 .It was submitted that surrender of the policy is only possible before maturity date but the complainant did not
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approach the opposite party for surrender before maturity date and as such complainant was not entitled to refund of the amount. As per the aforesaid intimation letter and Article 4 of the terms and conditions , complainant was advised to opt any of the following two annuity options as per pension rules:
“Option 1
Where in the complainant was entitled to withdraw upto 1/3rd (33.33%) of the policy value as lumpsum withdrawal and can use the balance to buy an Annuity Plan from Aviva or any other life Insurance company and
Option II
As per the said option, complainant was entitled to use 100% of Policy value to buy an Annuity Plan from Aviva or any other life Insurance Company.”
3. Through this letter complainant was further informed that in case he opted Annuity plan from opposite party, following additional documents are required:-
a) Original and complete Annuity Proposal Form
b) Copy of Pan card same has not been submitted as self attested ID proof
c ) Form No 15 G/H applicable to seek TDS exemption on Annuity Pay out.
4. But the complainant did not come forward to submit the aforesaid documents and to exercise the option as per terms and conditions of the policy. So the amount of the complainant is still lying with the opposite party and the complainant is still entitled to give his options as per terms and conditions of the policy. While
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denying and controverting other allegations, dismissal of complaint was prayed.
5. Complainant tendered into evidence his affidavit Ex.C-1, copy of premium receipt Ex.C-2, copy of letter dated 18.5.2013 Ex.C-3.
6. Opposite party tendered affidavit of Sh. Vivek Yadav Ex.OP1 alongwith documents Ex.OP2 to Ex.OP20.
7. We have carefully gone through the pleadings of the parties, arguments advanced by the ld.counsel for the parties and have appreciated the evidence produced on record by the parties with the valuable assistance of the ld.counsel for the parties.
8. From the record i.e. pleadings of the parties and the evidence produced on record by both the parties , it is clear that complainant got policy bearing No. APG1857455 with premium of Rs. 1,00,000/-. The said policy matured on 14.2.2013 but the opposite party did not make payment to the complainant and opposite party wrote letter dated 18.5.2013 Ex.C-3 to the complainant vide which the opposite party told the complainant that his amount is to be invested for pension and in annuity of any of the Insurance companies, but they are not going to make payment of the matured amount to the complainant. Ld.counsel for the complainant submitted that all this amounts to deficiency of service on the part of the opposite party qua the complainant.
9. Whereas the case of the opposite party is that upon maturity of the policy, the
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complainant was duly intimated through SMS on his mobile on 3.12.2012 and 16.1.2013. Maturity intimation letter dated 28.12.2012 Ex.OP4 was sent to the complainant which was duly received by the complainant on 31.12.2012. The surrender of the policy was only possible before maturity date. But the complainant did not approach the opposite party for surrender before maturity date, as such the complainant was not entitled to refund of the amount as alleged by the complainant. As per aforesaid intimation letter dated 28.12.2012 Ex.OP4 and as per Article 4 of the terms and conditions of the policy, the complainant was advised to opt for any of the following two Annuity options as per pension rules:-
“Option 1
Where in the complainant was entitled to withdraw upto 1/3rd (33.33%) of the policy value as lumpsum withdrawal and can use the balance to buy an Annuity Plan from Aviva or any other life Insurance company and
Option II
As per this option, complainant was entitled to use 100% of Policy value to buy an Annuity Plan from Aviva or any other life Insurance Company.”
10. Through this letter Ex.OP4 complainant was further informed that in case he opted Annuity plan from opposite party, following additional documents are required:-
a) Original and complete Annuity Proposal Form
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b) Copy of Pan card same has not been submitted as self attested ID proof
c ) From 15 G/H applicable to seek TDS exemption on Annuity Pay out.
11. But the complainant did not come forward to submit the aforesaid documents and to exercise the option as per terms and conditions of the policy. So the amount of the complainant is still lying with the opposite party and the complainant is still entitled to give his option as per terms and conditions of the policy. Ld.counsel for the opposite party submitted that there is no deficiency of service on the part of the opposite party qua the complainant.
12 From th entire above discussion, we have come to the conclusion that complainant obtained policy bearing No. APG1857455 with annual premium of Rs. 1,00,000/- and paid four premiums in all made payment of Rs. 4 lacs. The said policy matured on 14.2.2013. As per terms and conditions of the policy particularly Article 4 of the terms and conditions of the Insurance Policy Ex.OP2, complainant was given two options that on maturity he is entitled to withdraw upto 1/3rd of the policy value and can use the balance to by any Annuity Plan from opposite party or any other Life Insurance Company. Second option was that the complainant was entitled to 100% of the policy value to buy an Annuity Plan of the opposite party or any other Life Insurance Company. The complainant could get the surrender value of the policy only if he applies to the opposite party before the maturity of the policy . The opposite party sent letter in the form of maturity intimation letter
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dated 19.11.2012 Ex.OP9 telling the complainant that the maturity date of the policy is 14.2.2013 . In order to initiate the maturity process the complainant was requested to submit the following documents to the opposite party :-
Original policy documents
Copy of cancelled cheque
Self attested photo ID proof
Maturity payout form attached with that letter.
But the complainant did not approach the opposite party nor asked for surrender value of the policy before the maturity date of the policy i.e. 14.2.2013 nor the complainant came forward to submit his option under Article 4 of the terms and conditions of the policy nor submitted the aforesaid documents . Even reminders were issued to the complainant dated 4.12.2012 Ex.OP8, 27.12.2012 Ex.OP7, 11.1.2013 Ex.OP16, 14.10.2013 Ex.OP5 and 26.12.2013 Ex.OP4. But the complainant did not turn up nor submitted his option nor filed the aforesaid documents with the opposite party. The maturity value of the policy which was Rs. 5,18,271/- ( as intimated by the counsel for the opposite party ) is still lying with the opposite party and the complainant can take the same by giving option and submission of the aforesaid documents to the opposite party as per Article 4 of the policy terms and conditions Ex.OP2. Counsel for the opposite party has also produced on record letter dated 11.6.2015 i.e. intimation given by the opposite
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party to their counsel Sh. Akhilesh Vyas,Advocate in which they submitted that even if the settlement is delayed due to pendency from policy holders, as a customer centric measure, the opposite party shall pay an ex gratia interest amount @ 4% quarterly compounded for period from due date of claim to actual payment date excluding regulatory timeline 15 days. All this shows that there is no deficiency of service on the part of the opposite party qua the complainant rather it is the complainant who did not exercise his option as per Article 4 of the terms and conditions of the policy Ex.OP2 nor submitted the documents as required by the opposite party.
13. Consequently we hold that complaint is without merit and the same is hereby dismissed with no order as to costs. Copies of the order be furnished to the parties free of costs. File is ordered to be consigned to the record room. Case could not be disposed of within the stipulated period due to heavy pendency of the cases in this Forum.
1.07.2015 ( Bhupinder Singh )
President
( Kulwant Kaur Bajwa) (Anoop Sharma)
/R/ Member Member
