Sri Ashoke Kumar Pal, President.
The background of the instant case in short is that the complainant purchased a Mahindra Four Wheeler Car being registration No. WB02AG2654 on 20.11.2014 for his personal use and accordingly registration was made. The said vehicle was insured with Bajaj Alliance General Insurance Company Limited being policy No. OG-20-3392-1801-000000-31 for the period from 28.11.2019 to 27.11.2020 and the customer ID No. is 167955616 covering the claim of accident of the vehicle up to Rs. 4,19,280/-. On 07.01.2020 the complainant sent his car to Maldah with his driver Prasenjit Ray for personal purpose. When the driver was proceeding through Maldah Town, the Traffic Controller, Maldah Town stopped the vehicle near Kaliachak PS and ceased the vehicle for want of complete papers of the car. On the next date on 08.01.2020 for maintaining law and order duty the I/C, Kaliachak PS, Maldah Division requested the driver of the complainant for requisition of the vehicle for maintaining law and order situation purpose of the PS. At the request of the I/C, Kaliachak PS, the complainant could not refuse the proposal and agreed to permit his driver to serve the car for that day only without any monetary transaction as well as monetary benefit. A requisition dated 07.01.2020 was provided for the official work of the PS. On 08.01.2020 at about 12:45pm the said vehicle reached at Sujapur in Maldah and suddenly a group of person raising agitation and being furious set fire in some vehicles including vehicle of the complainant which was totally burnt down. The I/C , Kaliachak PS took cognizance and lodged complaint and registered FIR being No. 28/20 in connection with Kaliachak PS GDE No. 380 dated 08.01.2020 filed by the S/I, Dhirendranath Mondal. In the month of February the complainant filled up a form of the O.P. No. 1 for insurance claim as the vehicle of the complainant was totally burnt down. On 10.03.2020, 06.06.2020 and 21.09.2020 the O.P. Nos. 2 and 3 sent three letters stating that the vehicle was used by the complainant for commercial purpose and the time of the accident and for which the insurance company shall not be liable for the loss and the same does not fall within the purview of the policy. On 26.09.2020 the complainant wrote a letter to the insurance company. Thereafter, as no positive response has been received from the O.Ps. even after expiry of three months the complainant was compelled to sent another notice through his Ld. Advocate namely Manisha Debdas on 01.03.2021 to the O.P. Nos. 1, 2 and 3 by speed post. As no positive response has been received by the complainant from the O.Ps. the complainant was compelled to filed the instant case on the reliefs sought for in the petition of complaint.
It appears from the record that the notices of this case were duly served upon the O.Ps. but the O.Ps. did not come forward to contest the case after filling W.V. and as such the present complaint case was declared to be proceeded ex-parte against the O.Ps. by order No. 4 dated 16.11.2021. Accordingly, the case was heard ex-parte.
POINTS FOR CONSIDERAION:
From the petition of complaint along with other materials available on record the following point for consideration have been formulated for adjudication in the instant case.
- Is the complainant a consumer?
- Are the O.Ps. guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice?
- Is the complainant entitled to get reliefs as prayed for?
DECISION WITH REASONS :
Point No. 1:
On careful perusal of the case record and the copies of the documents, it appears that the complainant purchased a car and the same was insured with the O.P. Bajaj Alliance General Insurance Company Limited for the period from 28.11.2019 to 27.11.2020 being policy No. OG-20-3392-1801-000000-31covering the claim of accident of the vehicle upto Rs. 4,19,280/-. Therefore, we have no hesitation to hold that complainant is a consumer as defined in Section 2(7) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
As such, Point No. 1 is decided in favour of the complainant and against the O.Ps.
Point No. 2:
It is the admitted position that the vehicle being the registration No. WB02AG2654 was insured with the O.Ps. namely Bajaj Alliance General Insurance Company Limited being policy No. OG-20-3392-1801-000000-31 covering the claim of accident of the vehicle of the petitioners upto Rs.4,19,280/-. In support of his claim the complainant filed Xerox copy of the policy paper from which it appears that the said vehicle of the complainant was insured from 28.11.2019 till the mid night of 27.11.2020. The fact remains that the vehicle of the complainant was requisitioned by the police authority of Kaliachak PS for mobilization of police personnel to maintain the law and order situation at Sujapur where the said vehicle was set on fire by a group of furious and agitating people. As a result, the vehicle of the complainant was completely burnt down in fire. Consequently, the complainant applied for insurance claim with the O.Ps. Insurance Company which the O.P Insurance Company refused to pay on the plea that vehicle of the complainant was a private vehicle and the same was used for commercial purpose of the police authority hiring the same from the complainant. But it appears that a copy of letter has been filed for requesting the vehicle from the driver of the vehicle of the complainant wherein neither any hiring charges has been mentioned nor the O.Ps. came forward to produce any paper showing any hiring charges has been paid by the police authority and the same has been received by the driver of the vehicle. On the other hand it is more believable and to presume that the vehicle was requisitioned from the complainant through the driver on urgent basis for mobilization of the police personnel to maintain the law and order situation. Therefore, it cannot be said that the complainant used the vehicle for commercial purpose at the time of accident. The Insurance Company raised the plea only to avoid the payment of the claim amount as the vehicle was completely burnt down in fire. The copy of police paper clearly speaks about the damage of the vehicle in fire. The complainant by sending several letters to the O.Ps. requested them to pay the claim amount duly filing up the form for the same. But the Insurance Company did not pay any heed thereof and ultimately refused the claim on the ground of using the vehicle for commercial purpose. Therefore, it is clear from the averments of the complainant that the O.Ps. are guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.
As such, the Point No. 2 is thus decided in favour of the complainant and against the O.Ps.
Point No. 3:
It is the admitted position that the vehicle of the complainant was requisitioned by the Police authority on the day of the accident for mobilization of the police personnel at Sujapur, Maldah to maintain the law and order situation where the said vehicle was set on fire by a group of furious and agitating people along with the other vehicles and all the vehicles including the complainant’s vehicle were completely burnt down in fire. The complainant made insurance claim which the Insurance Company / O.Ps. refused to pay on the plea that vehicle of the complainant was a private vehicle and the same was used for commercial purpose by the police authority hiring the same from the complainant. But as it was discussed earlier that the vehicle was simply requisitioned by the Police authority. As such there is no ground to deny the insurance claim by the Insurance Company when the complainant had valid insurance coverage of the damaged vehicle.
As such, there is no hesitation to hold that the complainant is entitled to get the reliefs as prayed for. The complainant failed to get proper service from the O.Ps. On the other hand the complainant was harassed by the O.Ps. by various ways. Therefore, the complainant is entitled to get the reliefs as prayed for.
As such, the Point No. 3 is also decided in favour of the complainant and against the O.Ps.
In the result, the complaint case succeeds.
Fees paid is correct.
Hence, it is
ORDERED
That the instant case be and the same is hereby allowed ex-parte against the O.Ps. with cost of Rs. 25,000/-( Rupees twenty five thousand only).
The O.Ps. are jointly and severally liable and are directed to disburse the claim of Rs. 4,19,280/-(Rupees four lakh nineteen thousand two hundred eighty only) in favour of the complainant against the policy bearing No. OG-20-3392-1801-000000-31 along with simple interest @ 10% p.a. from the date of application for the insurance claim till the date of final realization of the same within 60 days from the date of passing this Order.
The O.Ps. are jointly and severally liable and are also directed to pay compensation to the tune of Rs. 1,00,000/-(Rupees one lakh only) for mental pain and agony and deficiency in service suffered by the complainant on the part of the O.Ps. within 60 days from the date of passing this Order.
The O.Ps. are jointly and severally liable and are also directed to pay the litigation cost of Rs. 25,000/-(Rupees twenty five thousand only) within 60 days from the date of passing this Order.
The complainant is at liberty to put the order into execution after the expiry of 60 days in case the orders are not complied with by the O.Ps. within 60 days from the date of passing this Order.
Let a copy of the order be sent / supplied free of cost to the parties concerned.
The Final Order will be available in the following websitewww.confonet.nic.in.
Dictated and corrected by me.
President
