DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, FARIDKOT
Complaint No. : 145 of 2018
Date of Institution: 11.09.2018
Date of Decision : 12.06.2019
Kavita Goyal aged about 25 years daughter of Naresh Goyal resident of Factory Road, Kotkapura, Tehsil Kotkapura District Faridkot.
.........Complainant
Versus
- Axis Bank Ltd situated at Faridkot Road, Kotkapura Tehsil through its Branch Manager/Authorised Signatory.
- Axis Bank Ltd, 3rd Floor, SCO 369-370 Sector 34-A, Chandigarh 160022.
- Axis Bank Ltd Branch Padra Vadodara situated at Umiya Vadi Tower Road, Padra, District Vadodara-391440 (Gujarat).
- Patel Achal Chanderkant r/o 30 Suvarnapuri Society, near MGVCL Phase, Ta-Padra District Vadodara near MGVCL Phase Vadodara (Gujarat) 391440. .............OPs
Complaint under Section 12 of the
Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
Quorum: Sh. Ajit Aggarwal, President,
Smt. Param Pal Kaur, Member.
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Present: Sh Vipin Tayal, Ld Counsel for Complainant,
Sh. Ravinder Parkash Goyal, Ld Counsel for OP-1 to 3,
OP-4 Exparte.
ORDER
(Ajit Aggarwal, President)
Complainant has filed the present complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against OPs seeking directions to OPs to credit the amount of Rs.50,000/-wrongly transferred in the bank account no.916010071022841 and to pay Rs.45,000/-illegally withdrawn by some unknown person and alongwith interest and for further directing OPs to pay Rs.1,00,000/- as compensation for deficiency in service and harassment alongwith litigation expenses of Rs.15,000/-.
2 Briefly stated, the case of the complainant is that complainant is having a saving account bearing no.915010044174772 with OP-1 bank alongwith ATM facility. On 26.03.2018, complainant visited the ATM installed outside the premises of OP-1 to withdraw some amount, but when complainant inserted the ATM Card into ATM machine, money did not come out and the person standing beside her, offered some help and then, complainant gave her ATM Card to said unknown person. Said person also inserted the
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ATM card into machine but this time again transaction was unsuccessful and when money did not release from machine, he returned the card to complainant. Then, after about 15-20 minutes, complainant received text messages on her mobile for transfer of amount of Rs.50,000/-from the account of complainant to the account no.916010071022841 and thereafter, she received another three messages regarding debit of Rs.20,000/-, Rs.20,000/-and Rs.5000/-from her account. Complainant immediately approached OP-1 to enquire about the amount debited, but they did not pay any heed to her requests and then, she reported the matter regarding fraudulent transfer entries to Police and got recorded DDR to this effect. Op-1 submitted detail regarding fraudulent transactions to Police and then, she came to know that Op-4 had seen her password and very cleverly, he exchanged the ATM card of complainant and while returning her card, he returned a fake card to her and kept the original one with himself and transferred Rs.50,000/-from her account to his account and also withdrew Rs.45,000/-from her account. Complainant made several requests to OP-1 to transfer the amount of Rs.50,000/-from the account of said unknown person to her account, but all in vain. Despite repeated requests, OPs have not done anything needful, which amounts to deficiency in service and has caused harassment and mental agony to her. She has prayed for accepting the
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present complaint alongwith compensation and litigation expenses besides the main relief. Hence, the complaint.
3 The counsel for complainant was heard with regard to admission of the complaint and vide order dated 12.09.2018, complaint was admitted and notice was ordered to be issued to the OPs.
4 On receipt of the notice, the OPs 1 to 3 filed written statement wherein they have denied all the allegations of complainant being wrong and incorrect and asserted that there is no deficiency in service on their part. It is averred that complainant has concealed the true facts from this Forum and complaint filed by her is misconceived. Complainant has twisted the real facts and has levelled false allegations. It is averred that complainant herself asked some one to help her in making withdrawal from ATM and gave her password to him, who with his cleverness and master mind transferred Rs.50,000/-from the account of complainant to his own account. Complainant has herself admitted that ATM card of complainant was changed by that person with his own ATM card and in all this there is no fault or deficiency in service on the part of answering OPs. Answering OPs have extended their support to complainant by telling details of account holder in whose account the miscreant person has transferred Rs.50,000/-by means of ATM card of complainant. OP bank did ask the branch office OP-3 not to allow withdrawal of Rs.50,000/-to
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the account holder, which are still deposited in the account in which these were transferred. Complainant has herself done wrong by sharing her password with some unknown person and now, she is trying to shift the responsibility of her mistake upon bank. Complainant is not entitled for relief sought by her. It is reiterated that there is no deficiency in service on the part of OPs and asserted that complaint filed by complainant is false and frivolous and have also denied all the allegations levelled by complainant being wrong and incorrect and prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
5 Registered cover containing notice and copy of complaint alongwith relevant documents was sent to OP-4, but it did not receive back undelivered and was presumed to be served. When no body appeared in the Forum on behalf of OP-4 on date fixed either in person or through counsel, then vide order dated 11.02.2019, OP-4 was proceeded against exparte.
6 Parties were given proper opportunities to prove their respective case. Counsel for complainant tendered in evidence her affidavit Ex.C-1 and documents Ex C-2 to C-9 and then, closed their evidence.
7 In order to rebut the evidence of the complainant, Counsel for OP-1 to 3 tendered in evidence affidavit of Gaurav
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Jain Ex OP-1 to 3/1 and Ex OP-1,3/2 and then, closed the evidence on behalf of OP-1 to 3.
8 We have heard the ld counsel for complainant as well as OPs and have carefully gone through evidence and documents placed on record by respective parties.
9 From the careful perusal of record and evidence and documents placed on record by respective parties, it is observed that case of the complainant is that she holds a saving account with OP-1 alongwith ATM facility. On 26.03.2018, she visited the ATM of OP-1 to withdraw some amount. No guard was there and when transaction made by complainant got unsuccessful and money did not come out then, a person standing beside her, offered some help. Complainant gave her ATM Card to said unknown person, who returned the card to complainant when transaction made by him became unsuccessful, but, after about 15-20 minutes, complainant received text message that Rs.50,000/-from the account of complainant were transferred to the account no.916010071022841 and thereafter, she received another three messages regarding debit of Rs.20,000/-, Rs.20,000/-and Rs.5000/-from her account. She approached OP-1 to redress her grievance regarding said debit, but they did not pay any heed to her requests and then, she reported the matter regarding fraudulent transfer of amount to Police and got
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recorded DDR to this effect. Op-1 submitted detail regarding fraudulent transactions to Police and then, she came to know that Op-4 had seen her password and very cleverly, he exchanged the ATM card of complainant with fake one and transferred Rs.50,000/-from her account to his account and also withdrew Rs.45,000/-from her account. Despite repeated requests OPs did not transfer the amount from the account of OP-4 to the account of complainant, which amounts to deficiency in service. She has prayed for accepting the complaint. In reply, OP-1 to 3 have denied all the allegations being wrong and incorrect and asserted that there is no deficiency in service on their part. They stressed mainly on the point that she herself asked some one to help her in making withdrawal from ATM and gave her password to him, who with his clever mind transferred Rs.50,000/-from her account to his own account. There is no fault or deficiency in service on the part of OP-1 to 3 as they have extended maximum possible help to complainant by telling details of account holder in whose account the miscreant person has transferred Rs.50,000/-by means of ATM card of complainant. OP bank did ask the branch office OP-3 not to allow withdrawal of Rs.50,000/-to the account holder, which are still deposited in the account in which these were transferred. Complainant has herself done wrong by sharing her password with some unknown person and now, she is trying to shift the onus of wrong done by her upon them. There is no
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deficiency in service on their part and prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs. It is observed that it is admitted case of parties that complainant is having saving account with OP-1 to 3 and she has also availed ATM facility from them. Bank has not deducted any amount illegally and complainant is not entitled for any relief as sought by him. It is also admitted by OPs in their written statement that no guard is posted at ATM installed outside the bank. There is no denial to the fact that complainant immediately reported the matter to OPs. Grievance of the complainant is that despite submission of application and several verbal requests, OPs have failed to redress her grievance which amounts to deficiency in service and trade mal practice.
10 To prove his pleadings, ld counsel for complainant placed on record document Ex C-2 that is copy of passbook that shows that complainant hold an account with OP-1 and on 26.03.2018 Rs.50,000/-were transferred from her account and Rs.20,000/-, Rs.20,000/-and Rs.5000/-were debited from her account. ExC-3 to Ex C-6 are text messages received by complainant regarding amount illegally debited from her account. Ex C-8 is copy of complaint made by complainant before Police on 27.03.2018 regarding illegal deduction from her account and Ex C-9 is copy of application forwarded by complainant to Bank Authorities narrating her grievance in which she has made request to OPs to credit the amount of Rs.50,000/-illegally transferred
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from her account to the account of OP-4. Complainant has produced sufficient and cogent evidence to prove her case and all documents brought on record by her are authentic and are beyond any doubt.
11 The learned counsel for the complainant argued that the complainant never disclosed his password to anybody. These transactions were made by some third person by playing fraud upon her. Op-4 exchanged ATM card of complainant very cleverly with fake one and withdrew huge amount from her account. It is observed that there is no deficiency in service on the part of OP-1 to OP-3 Bank Authorities, as complainant herself handed over her ATM Card to OP-4 and disclosed her pin to that unknown person and there seems to be role of bank in this fraudulent transaction made by OP-4. However, it is brought before the Forum by OP-1 to 3 that amount of Rs.50,000/-debited from the account of complainant is lying in the account number 916010071022841 which is facilitated due to debit entries made by bank authorities without consent or written instructions of complainant. All this occurred due to fraud committed by OP-4.
12 From the above discussion and evidence and pleadings put forward by parties, it is made out that there is no deficiency in service on the part of OP-1 to OP-3. Also there is no doubt that huge amount of Rs.50,000/-has been transferred from the account of complainant and it is still lying in the
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no. 916010071022841 of OP-4 which is brought before this Forum by OP-1 to 3. Therefore, complaint in hand is hereby partly allowed and OP-1 to 3 are directed to debit amount of Rs.50,000/-lying the account of OP-4 and credit the same to the account of complainant. Compliance of this order be made within one month of receipt of the copy of the order, failing which complainant shall be entitled to proceed under Section 25 and 27 of the Consumer Protection Act. Copy of the order be supplied to parties free of cost. File be consigned to record room.
Announced in Open Forum
Dated : 12.06.2019
(Param Pal Kaur) (Ajit Aggarwal)
Member President
