ORDERS:

Jatinder Singh Pannu, Member

1        The complainant has filed the present complaint by invoking the provisions of Consumer Protection Act under Section 11, 12 and 13 against the opposite parties on the allegations that the opposite parties No. 1, 2 i.e. Axis Bank Ltd. is a Bank and is dealing in banking services, herein to be referred as ‘the Bank’. The complainant is having saving bank account bearing No. 910010004708909 with the Axis Bank Branch Tarn Taran and is running and maintaining the saving account since long ago.  The officials of the bank again and again visited the complainant with the offers of credit card and later on under the instigation of the officials, the complainant agreed to have credit card of the bank and as such, a credit card bearing No. 530562020947595 was issued to the complainant by the bank. Since the issuance of the credit card, the complainant has never used the credit card for any purpose. In the month of December, 2018, the complainant had received/got a message on its registered Number with the saving bank account that his account is going to be debited with Rs. 8,469/- for the purchase made upon the credit card. The complainant has never made any purchase through the credit card and he had never received any message with OTP etc. for the purchase going to be made through the credit card as such, the complainant was having no knowledge of the fact that when the alleged purchase of the fact that when the purchase was made through his credit card. The complainant has brought this fact immediately in to the notice of the officials of the bank that he had never used his credit card for any purpose, for which his saving account is debited but none of the officials had paid heed towards the request made by the complainant. The saving bank account of the complainant was debited with Rs. 8,469/- on 1.1.2019 against the purchase, which the complainant has never done from his credit card. The complainant has intimated the officials of the bank that his saving account is wrongly debited and requested them to inquire the matter and to reimburse his money in the saving bank account but none of the official had paid heed towards the request made by the complainant. In the month of February, 2019, the complainant has again received a message on his registered mobile Number with the saving bank account that his saving bank account is going to be debited with Rs. 9,989/- for the purchase made through credit card. The complainant has never made any purchase upon the credit card and he had never received any message with OTP etc. for the purpose through the credit card as such the complainant was having no knowledge of the fact that when the alleged purchase was made through his credit card. The complainant has again brought this fact immediately in to the notice of the officials of the bank that he had never used his credit card for any kind of purchase for which his saving bank account is debited, but this time again, none of the officials had paid heed towards the request made by the complainant.  At this time, the saving bank was not debited due to non-availability of balance. Later on the saving bank account of the complainant was again debited for Rs. 500/- on 5.2.2019 for the alleged credit card outstanding amount. The saving bank account of the complainant was again debited for Rs. 3,354/- on 29.6.2019 for the alleged credit card outstanding amount. The above said amounts have also been wrongly deducted from the saving bank account of the complainant. The complainant has again and again brought the above facts in the knowledge of the official of the bank that his saving bank account is wrongly debited and outstanding amount in the credit card account is increasing day by day and the complainant further requested them to inquire the matter and to reimburse his money in the saving bank account but none of the officials had paid heed towards the requests made by the complainant as such, bank has done nothing in this regard. As per the prevailing rules, the bank mandatorily sends messages with OTP number to the customers, whenever any credit card is being used by the customer for any of the purchase etc. And the sending of message to confirm OTP for any kind of use of credit card is for the purpose to verify the fact that the credit card is being used by its real owner. In the present case, the complainant has never received any message with OTP number for any kind of alleged purchases. The said fact in itself proves that the credit card of the complainant is being used by somebody else in connivance with the bank officials or in any other manner best known to the bank. The complainant has given numerous intimations to the bank in this regard but the bank has not made efforts in order to find out the deficiency in services on its part. The bank is continuously increasing the outstanding amount in the credit card account of the complainant without any basis and without making any inquiry in this regard. The complainant has never used the credit card for any kind of purchase or for any kind of any service from the date of its issuance till today but the bank have wrongly deducted the amount of Rs. 12,323/- in total i.e. respectively first Rs. 8,469/- on 1.1.2019, secondly Rs. 500/- on 5.2.2019 and thirdly Rs. 3,354/- on 29.6.2019 from the saving bank account of the complainant. The complainant has also moved written application dated 31.1.2019, further on 25.3.2019 and further on 28.5.2019 to the bank in this regard but no response had ever been received by the complainant from the bank. The complainant has also served a legal notice bearing No. G-91/2018 dated 19.7.2018 vide postal receipt dated 19.7.2019 to the bank in order to redress his grievances but the bank had not even bother to give any reply to the legal notice. The complainant has prayed that the opposite parties may be directed to reimburse the full wrongly debited amount of Rs. 12,323/- i.e. firstly Rs. 8,469/- on 1.1.2019, secondly Rs. 500/- on 5.2.2019 and thirdly Rs. 3,354/- on 29.6.2019 in to the saving bank account of the complainant and to clear the wrong outstanding amount shown in the credit card account of the complainant and to pay Rs. 20,000/- as compensation and Rs. 20,000/- as litigation expenses. Along with the complaint, the complainant has placed on record affidavit of complainant Ex. C-1, self attested copy of saving Bank Account Statement Ex. C-2,  Self attested copies of Credit Card Statement  of account Ex. C-3 to Ex. C-5, self attested copy of application dated 31.1.2019 Ex. C-6, Self attested copy of application dated 25.3.2019 Ex. C-7, Self attested copy of application dated 28.5.2019 Ex. C-8, Self attested copy of legal notice dated 19.7.2019 Ex. C-9, Self attested copy of postal receipt dated 19.7.2019 Ex. C-10, Self attested copy of Postal receipt dated 19.7.2019 Ex. C-12, Self attested copy of Adhar Card Ex. C-12.

2        Notice of this complaint was sent to the opposite parties and opposite parties appeared through counsel and filed written version taking preliminary objections that the present complaint is not maintainable in the eyes of law in the present form. The complainant has concealed the true facts from this commission and came to the commission with unclean hands. The complaint is not entitled to discretionary relief from this Commission. The complaint is liable to be dismissed on the ground of internal concealment of material facts from this Commission. The complainant has got o cause of action or locus standi to file the present complaint. The complaint is not properly valued for the purpose of court fee and jurisdiction. On Merits, it was pleaded and admitted that the saving bank account of the complainant was debited with Rs. 8,469/- on 1.1.2019 against the purchase as it is clear in the credit card statement of the complainant. The complainant receives message of amount going to be debited and in that time there is conformation message which is (OTP) One time Password message and amount debited. It is also admitted that the saving bank account of the complainant was debited with Rs. 500/- on 5.2.2019 and Rs. 3,354/- on 29.6.2019 for the credit card outstanding amount, as a purchase having been made by the complainant. The complainant receives message of amount going to be debited and in that time there is confirmation message which is (OTP) one time password message and amount debited. As per prevailing rules, the bank mandatorily sends message with OTP Number to the customer, whenever any credit card is being used by the customer for any of the purchase etc. The complainant has served a legal notice bearing No. G-91/2018 dated 19.7.2018 to the bank and the same is being sent/ posted/ R.C. to the bank vide receipt dated 19.7.2019. The complainant is serving the notice through counsel in the year 2018 and being serving it through Post/ R.C. the same notice to bank in the year 2019 which is not well within the period of limitation in the eyes of law.  The opposite parties have denied the other contents of the complaint and prayed for dismissal of the complaint. Alongwith the written version, the opposite parties have placed on record affidavit of Branch Bank Manager Ex. OPs-1.

3        The complainant has filed rejoinder to the written version filed by the opposite parties and denied all the pleas taken in the written version and reiterated the stand as taken in the complaint. It was pleaded that the opposite party/Bank did not inquire to the matter and did not check with the concerned entity/ department/ company with whom the impugned transactions were made as to what items/ services were purchased by whom the said transactions were made and on what address the purchased items / services were sent as the same can lead to revelation of the fact that by whom and from where the credit card of the complainant was misused. The complainant has made several requests to the opposite party bank for inquiring the matter with regard to impugned transactions made upon the credit card through the applications Ex. C-6 to Ex. C-8 and further through the legal notice Ex. C-9 which was sent to the bank vide receipt Ex. C-10 and C-11 but the opposite party bank had remained silent throughout the time and had neither given any satisfactory reply to the complainant nor had made any inquiry in to the mater. Credit Card facility is a service given by the bank and the banking institutions are more under and obligation to discharge the burden of proof precisely as the opposite party bank has established agencies and set up to inquire the matter properly in order to redress the grievance of its customers but in the present case, the opposite party bank has failed to discharge its burden and has committed gross deficiency in services. The opposite party bank has left the dispute without even conducting any inquiry and on the other hands the bank was bound to conduct thorough inquiry and adjudicate the matter. As such, there is a gross deficiency in services and dereliction of duties on the part of the bank. The complainant has denied other contents of the written version and prayed that the present complaint maybe allowed. Alongwith rejoinder the complainant has placed on record his affidavit Ex. C-13, self attested copy of statement Ex. C-14.

4        We have heard the Ld. counsel for the parties and have carefully gone through the record placed on the file.

5        Ld. counsel for the complainant contended that the complainant is having saving bank account bearing No. 910010004708909 with the Axis Bank Branch Tarn Taran and is running and maintaining the saving account since long ago.  The officials of the bank again and again visited the complainant with the offers of credit card and later-on under the instigation of the officials, the complainant agreed to have credit card of the bank and as such, a credit card bearing No. 530562020947595 was issued to the complainant by the bank. He further contended that since the issuance of the credit card, the complainant has never used the credit card for any purpose. In the month of  December, 2018, the complainant had got a message on its registered Number with the saving bank account that his account is going to be debited with Rs. 8,469/- for the purchase made upon the credit card. The complainant has never made any purchase through the credit card and he had never received any message with OTP etc. for the purchase going to be made through the credit card as such, the complainant was having no knowledge of the fact that when the alleged purchase of the fact that when the alleged purchase was made through his credit card. The complainant brought this fact immediately to the notice of the officials of the bank that he had never used his credit card for any purpose, for which his saving account is going to be debited but none of the officials had paid heed towards the request made by the complainant. He further contended that the saving bank account of the complainant was debited with Rs. 8,469/- on 1.1.2019 against the purchase, which the complainant has never done from his credit card. The complainant has intimated the officials of the bank that his saving account is wrongly debited and requested them to inquire the matter and to reimburse his money in the saving bank account but none of the official had paid heed towards the request made by the complainant and the complainant . In the month of February, 2019, the complainant has again received a message on his registered mobile Number with the saving bank account that his saving bank account is going to be debited with Rs. 9,989/- for the purchase made through credit card. The complainant has never made any purchase upon the credit card and he had never received any message with OTP etc. for the purpose through the credit card as such the complainant was having no knowledge of the fact that when the alleged purchase was made through his credit card. The complainant has again brought this fact immediately in to the notice of the officials of the bank that he had never used his credit card for any kind of purchase for which his saving bank account is going to be debited, but this time again, none of the officials had paid heed towards the request made by the complainant.  At this time, the saving bank was not debited due to non-availability of balance. Later on the saving bank account of the complainant was again debited for Rs. 500/- on 5.2.2019 for the alleged credit card outstanding amount. The saving bank account of the complainant was again debited for Rs. 3,354/- on 29.6.2019 for the alleged credit card outstanding amount. The above said amounts have also been wrongly deducted from the saving bank account of the complainant. The complainant has again and again brought the above facts in the knowledge of the official of the bank that his saving bank account is wrongly debited and outstanding amount in the credit card account is increasing day by day and the complainant further requested them to inquire the matter and to reimburse his money in the saving bank account but none of the officials had paid heed towards the requests made by the complainant as such, bank has done nothing in this regard. As per the prevailing rules, the bank mandatorily sends messages with OTP number to the customers, whenever any credit card is being used by the customer for any of the purchase etc. And the sending of message to confirm OTP for any kind of use of credit card is for the purpose to verify the fact that the credit card is being used by its real owner. In the present case, the complainant has never received any message with OTP number for any kind of alleged purchases. The said fact in itself proves that the credit card of the complainant is being used by somebody else in connivance with the bank officials or in any other manner best known to the bank. The complainant has given numerous intimations to the bank in this regard but the bank has done nothing in order to find out the deficiency in services on its part. The bank is continuously increasing the outstanding amount in the credit card account of the complainant without any basis and without making any inquiry in this regard. The complainant has never used the credit card for any kind of purchase or for any kind of any service from the date of its issuance till today but the bank have wrongly deducted the amount of Rs. 12,323/- in total i.e. respectively first Rs. 8,469/- on 1.1.2019, secondly Rs. 500/- on 5.2.2019 and thirdly Rs. 3,354/- on 29.6.2019 from the saving bank account of the complainant. The complainant has also moved written applications Ex. C-6 to Ex. C-8 dated 31.1.2019, further on 25.3.2019 and further on 28.5.2019 to the bank in this regard but no response had ever been received by the complainant from the bank. The complainant has also served a legal notice bearing No. G-91/2018 dated 19.7.2018 Ex. C-9 vide postal receipts dated 19.7.2019 Ex. C-10, Ex. C-11 to the bank in order to redress his grievances but the bank had not even bother to give any reply to the legal notice. He further contended that opposite party/Bank did not inquire the matter and did not check with the concerned entity/ department/ company with whom the impugned transactions were made as to what items/ services were purchased by whom the said transactions were made and on what address the purchased items / services were sent as the same can lead to revelation of the fact that by whom and from where the credit card of the complainant was misused. Credit Card facility is a service given by the bank and the banking institutions are more under and obligation to discharge the burden of proof precisely as the opposite party bank has established agencies and set up to inquire the matter properly in order to redress the grievance of its customers but in the present case, the opposite party bank has failed to discharge its burden and has committed gross deficiency in services. The opposite party bank has left the dispute without even conducting any inquiry and on the other hands the bank was bound to conduct thorough inquiry and adjudicate the matter. As such, there is a gross deficiency in services and dereliction of duties on the part of the bank. Ld. counsel for the complainant also contended that the letter Ex. C-6 has been received by the officials of the opposite party and two employees of the opposite party namely Harpreet Singh and Rajeev Sharma have written their mobile numbers with their own hands on the back side of Ex. C-6. Ld. counsel for the complainant has also contended that the letter Ex. C-8 has been received by the opposite party on 30.5.2019 vide receiving Number 52057399.  Ld. counsel for the complainant has also contended that date on the legal notice has wrongly been written as 19.7.2018 instead of 19.7.2019 which is quite clear from the postal receipts dated 19.7.2019 Ex. C-10 and Ex. C-11. He prayed that the present complaint allowed. To support his case the complainant has relied upon the Judgments HDFC Bank Ltd. Vs Shri Vikas Sawant Revision Petition No. 1883 of 2016 D/d 22.3.2017 of National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, V.Krishna Veni Vs SBI Card of Payments Services Pvt. Ltd. in FA No. 1081 of 2007, D/d 26.2.2010 of Andhra Pradesh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Standard Charted Bank and Anr Vs Anil Shridhar Supnekar in FA No. 1252 of 2009, D/d 20.6.2012 of Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

6        On the other hands, Ld. counsel for the opposite parties contended that the present complaint is not maintainable in the eyes of law in the present form. The complainant has concealed the true facts from this commission and came to the commission with unclean hands. The complaint is liable to be dismissed on the ground of internal concealment of material facts from this Commission. The complainant has got no cause of action or locus standi to file the present complaint. He further contended that the saving bank account of the complainant was debited with Rs. 8,469/- on 1.1.2019 against the purchase as it is clear in the credit card statement of the complainant. The complainant received message of amount going to be debited and in that time there was conformation message which is (OTP) One time Password message and amount debited. It is also admitted that the saving bank account of the complainant was debited with Rs. 500/- on 5.2.2019 and Rs. 3,354/- on 29.6.2019 for the credit card outstanding amount, as a purchase having been made by the complainant. The complainant received message of amount going to be debited and in that time there is confirmation message which is (OTP) one time password message and amount debited. As per prevailing rules, the bank mandatorily sends message with OTP Number to the customer, whenever any credit card is being used by the customer for any of the purchase etc. The complainant has served a legal notice bearing No. G-91/2018 dated 19.7.2018 to the bank and the same is being sent/ posted/ R.C. to the bank vide receipt dated 19.7.2019. The complainant is serving the notice through counsel in the year 2018 and being serving it through Post/ R.C. The same notice to bank in the year 2019 which is not well within the period of limitation in the eyes of law.  He prayed that the present complaint may be dismissed.

7        In the present case, it is not disputed that the complainant is account holder of the opposite parties and the opposite parties have issued debit card to the complainant. The main issue in the present case is that an amount of Rs. 8,469/-, Rs. 500/- and Rs. 3,354/- totaling Rs. 12,323/- has been debited from the credit card of the complainant by the complainant or by some other person. According to complainant, he never used his credit card and he never purchased anything through the credit card and no any OTP has been received by the complainant against the above said transactions and the complainant has informed the opposite parties time to time regarding the same but no action has been taken by the opposite parties. On the other hands, the case of the opposite parties is that the complainant has used the credit card and has made the purchase and the complainant has never made any complaint to the opposite parties. To prove his case, the complainant has placed on record one application Ex. C-6 in which he has specifically written that he has not used the credit card for any purchase and his credit card has been misused for two times. The letter is dated 31.1.2019 Ex. C-6 and on the back side it is appearing the names of Harpreet Singh and Rajiv Sharma and their respective mobile Numbers. Again the complainant has moved an application dated 25.3.2019 Ex. C-7 in which he has written that Rs. 500/- has been deducted from his account. The complainant has also placed on record another application dated 27.5.2019 Ex. C-8 in which he has given reference of his previous applications and deductions and the said application has been received on 30.5.2019 by the opposite parties vide receipt No. 52057399. The complainant has also placed on record legal notice Ex. C-9 dated 19.7.2019 (wrongly written as 18.7.2019 due to clerical mistake) and the same is served to the opposite parties through postal receipts Ex. C-10 and Ex. C-11. As such, this all shows that the complainant has approached the opposite parties several times but the opposite parties have failed to redress the complaint. As such, the plea of the opposite parties that the complainant never approached the opposite party has no force. Moreover, the opposite parties simply alleged that they have sent OTP Number on each transaction to the complainant at the relevant time but the opposite parties have failed to produce any record on file regarding sending the OTP to the complainant regarding the transactions in question.  The opposite parties have not taken any action on the applications of the complainant Ex. C-6 to Ex.C-8 and legal notice Ex. C-9. The opposite parties have not initiated any inquiry qua the matter in question. The opposite parties have not taken any step to resolve the matter in question. In Standard Charted Bank and Anr Vs Anil Shridhar Supnekar in FA No. 1252 of 2009, D/d 20.6.2012 it has been held by Hon’ble Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission that Bank was bound to conduct thorough enquiry and thereafter adjudicate the matter. In the instant case, by not resolving the matter in question inspite of repeated requests, there is deficiency in services on the part of the opposite parties.

8        In view of ibid discussion, the present complaint is allowed and the opposite parties are directed to reimburse the amount of Rs. 12,323/- to the complainant . The complainant is also entitled to Rs.3,000/- ( Rs. Three Thousand only) as compensation on account of harassment and mental agony and Rs 2,500/- ( Rs. Two thousand and five hundred only) as litigation expenses. Opposite Parties are directed to comply with the order within one month from the date of receipt of copy of the order, failing which the complainant is entitled to interest @ 9% per annum, on the awarded amount, from the date of complaint till its realisation.  Copy of order be supplied to the parties free of costs as per rules. File be consigned to record room.

Announced in Open Commission.

23.9.2021