BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM-I, U.T. CHANDIGARH

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Akhil Kumar son of Sh.Krishan Pal, r/o H.No.205, 1^st Floor, Sector 38-A, Chandigarh.

…..Complainant

                V E R S U S

AXIS Bank, SCO No.343-344, Sector 35-B, Chandigarh.

                    ……Opposite Party

CORAM: SH.P.D.GOEL             PRESIDENT

        SH.RAJINDER SINGH GILL  MEMBER

Argued by:   Sh.Deepak Aggarwal, Counsel for the

complainant.

               Sh.Jatin Kumar, Counsel for the OP.

PER RAJINDER SINGH GILL, MEMBER

        Briefly stated, the complainant, in response to an advertisement/pamphlets of OP for financing 100% booking amount of Chandigarh Housing Board, Sector 51-A Flat Scheme, opted the said offer and paid Rs.19,200/- as interest. The closing date of the scheme was 23.1.2011 and the preliminary draw of the lot was held on 23.3.2011, wherein the complainant remained unsuccessful. The Chandigarh Housing Board refunded the earnest money to the OP bank. Then, complainant sent a representation to the OP on 30.4.2011 seeking refund of the interest overpaid for the remaining period, but to no avail. Hence, this complaint.

2]      OP filed the reply and admitted that they floated 100% finance scheme on the booking amount of Chandigarh Housing Board, Sector 51-A Flat Scheme and the complainant opted for the same by depositing Rs.19,200/-. It is stated that under the said scheme, the OP bank financed 100% earnest money of Rs.5 lacs with Chandigarh Housing Board on behalf of applicant/complainant and charged upfront charges of Rs.19,200/-, which includes interest, expenses, file charges, processing fee etc. The complainant had duly read & understood the terms & and conditions/instructions, before filling up the loan documents. It is submitted that as per Clause No.6 of the instructions, it was stipulated that the upfront charges collected by the OP bank are inclusive of interest & other charges and the same are non-refundable. It has been mentioned in the pamphlet of the scheme that the draw of lots was to be held by the Chandigarh Housing Board within a period of 6 months and importantly the upfront charges paid by the complainant are non refundable charges. Rest of the allegations have been denied with a prayer to dismiss the complaint.

3]      Parties led evidence in support of their contentions.

4]      We have heard the learned Counsel for the parties and have also perused the record.

5]      The contention of the complainant is that he paid Rs.19,200/- as interest for financing 100% booking amount i.e. Rs.500 lacs against the Housing Scheme launched by the Chandigarh Housing Board having last date as 23.1.2011.  The draw of lots was held on 23.3.2011 in which complainant remained unsuccessful, as such complainant requested the OP bank to refund the interest overpaid for the remaining period.

6]      On the other hand, the contention of the OP is that they charged upfront charges of Rs.19,200/- which includes interest, expenses, file charges, processing fee etc., which were non refundable.

7]      We find merit in the contention of the OP. The complainant himself placed on record the instruction of OP bank for filling up the loan documents wherein at Clause NO.6, it has clearly been mentioned that “Please note that the up-front charges collected by the bank are inclusive of interest and other charges and are non-refundable, moreover the same shall be forfeited in the case of any misrepresentation at any point.”   As the amount of Rs.19,200/- paid by the complainant to the OP Bank was inclusive of all other charges, besides interest and since the same was also non-refundable, the complainant was certainly not entitled for any refund.

8]      In view of the foregoings, we are of the opinion that there is no deficiency on the part of OP. The complaint, being meritless, is dismissed with no order as to costs.

        Certified copies of this order be sent to the parties free of charge.  The file be consigned.