RESERVED
STATE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION,
UTTAR PRADESH, LUCKNOW
COMPLAINT NO. 36 OF 2023
M/s Inventive Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
607, Prateek Centre, Sanjay Place
Agra, U.P. 282002
...Complainants
Vs.
Axis Bank Limited
Through its Branch Manager
Shop No. 1, 3 to 16, Anupam Plaza 2
Block No.51, Sanjay Place, Agra
Uttar Pradesh -282002
...Opposite Party
BEFORE:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ASHOK KUMAR, PRESIDENT
For the Complainant : Sri Atit Jain, Advocate.
For the Opposite Parties :
Dated : 05-04-2018
ORDER
PER MR. JUSTICE ASHOK KUMAR, PRESIDENT
Present complaint has been filed under Section 47 of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 before State Commission by complainant M/s Inventive Software Solutions Private Limited, Agra against opposite party Axis Bank Limited, Agra seeking following reliefs/prayer :-
“It is, therefore, most respectfully prayed that this Ld. Forum may be please to:-
- Direct the Opposite Party Bank to cancel all the takeover charges of Rs.60,41,951/- being sought by the OP Bank from the Complainant, remove the lien marked by the OP upon the Complainant account and further release the entire amount in the Complainant account;
- Direct the Opposite Party to refund the amount of Rs.8,49,600/- paid by the Complainant as the processing fees alongwith interest;
- Direct the Opposite Party to issue the requisite NOC to the Complainant;
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- Award compensation of Rs.25,00,000/- (Rupees Twenty-Five Lakh Only) in favour of the Complainant for the mental agony, harassment and inconvenience caused due to the illegal and mala fide actions of the Opposite Party Bank;
- Impose other exemplary costs upon the Opposite Party Bank to be paid to the Complainant;
- Award the entire costs of litigation for the present case in favour of the Complainant and against the Opposite Party Bank;
- Pass any such other further orders(s)/direction(s) as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the present case and in the interest of justice.”
Sri Atit Jain assisted by Sri Manoj Kumar, learned Counsel for the complainant appeared.
Heard learned Counsel for the complainant and perused the material available on record.
From averments made in complaint it transpires that the complainant M/s Inventive Software Solutions Private Limited is a Private Limited Company and is engaged in the business of providing services to many government agencies through the process of tender bidding and in the month of July, 2021 the complainant was approached by the opposite party Axis Bank with the assurance that opposite party will provide a higher BG and CC Limit i.e. Credit Limits of Rupees Seventeen Crore ( CC of 5 crore and BG of 12 crore) than their existing limits with Punjab National Bank for which the complainant has paid an advance of Rs.8,49,600/- to the opposite party as processing fees for proceeding with the BG/CC limits takeover but it could not be materialized due to the various reasons.
The complainant further approached the Grievance Redressal Officer, Nodal Officer and Zonal Officer of opposite party but they failed to provide any resolution by stating that the charges has been levied as per the terms for takeover failure. Thereafter the complainant approached the Banking Ombudsman for redressal of its grievance but ultimately the Banking Ombudsman closed the complaint of the
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complainant on the basis of opposite party’s reply itself without even affording a hearing opportunity to the complainant.
It further transpires from the averments made in complaint that the complainant is engaged in the business of commercial activities and the complaint has been filed for redressal of its grievance arising out of refusal of higher BG and CC Limit i.e. Credit Limits of Rupees Seventeen Crore ( CC of 5 crore and BG of 12 crore) than their existing limits with Punjab National Bank by the opposite party Axis Bank.
In view of proposition laid down by Hon’ble National Commission in its judgment dated 19-07-2016 rendered in the Consumer Case No. 1047 of 2016 Sidhmukh Flexible Packaging Pvt. Ltd. V/s State Bank of India and 2 others the complaint is not maintainable under the Consumer Protection Act as the bank accounts have been obtained by complainant for commercial purpose and complainant is not a consumer as defined in Section 2(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act 1986.
Relevant paragraphs 07 and 08 of the aforesaid judgment of Hon’ble National Commission are extracted below:-
“7. The complainant company took credit facilities from the bank for the purpose of its business activities. The complainant is engaged in manufacturing of plastic packaging film. The purpose behind taking credit facilities from the bank obviously was to advance and augment the business activities of the company using the funds taken from the bank for this purpose. The complainant was seeking to earn profits by undertaking its business activities with the help of the loan taken by it from the bank. Therefore, it can hardly be disputed that the services of the bank were hired or availed by the complainant for a commercial purpose. Therefore, the complainant cannot said to be a consumer as defined in Section 2(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act.
8. Since the complainant is not a consumer within the meaning of section 2(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act, this Commission therefore, lacks jurisdiction to entertain the complaint. It is, however, made clear that dismissal of the complaint will not come in the way of the complainant approaching forum other than a consumer forum, for the redressal of his grievances.”
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Having heard the learned Counsel for the complainant and after going through the material available on record I do not find any force in the argument of learned Counsel for the complainant and the complaint is liable to be dismissed at the admission stage itself.
In view of above complaint is dismissed at the admission stage itself with liberty to complainant to file the case before the appropriate court or authority in accordance with law.
Let copy of this order be made available to the parties positively within 15 days as per rules.
The Stenographer is requested to upload this order on the website of this Commission at the earliest.
( JUSTICE ASHOK KUMAR )
PRESIDENT
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