DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, BATHINDA
CC.No.396 of 16-09-2013
Decided on 27-01-2014
Balbir Singh aged about 43 years S/o Balaur Singh R/o VPO Maisar Khana, Tehsil Talwandi Sabo, District Bathinda.
........Complainant
Versus
1.Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd., 2nd Floor, Above ICICI Bank, Opposite Clock Tower, Bibi Wala Road, Bathinda, through its Branch Manager/Incharge.
2.Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Company Ltd., GE Plaza, Ground Floor, Airport Road, Yerawada, Pune-411006, through its Managing Director/Chairman.
.......Opposite parties
Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
QUORUM
Smt.Vikramjit Kaur Soni, President.
Smt.Sukhwinder Kaur, Member.
Sh.Jarnail Singh, Member.
Present:-
For the Complainant: Sh.A.S Sekhon, counsel for the complainant.
For Opposite parties: Sh.M.L Bansal, counsel for the opposite parties.
ORDER
VIKRAMJIT KAUR SONI, PRESIDENT:-
1. This complaint has been filed by the complainant under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as amended upto date (Here-in-after referred to as an 'Act'). The brief facts of the complaint are that on the allurement of the agent/adviser of the opposite parties the complainant has purchased the life insurance policy bearing No.0182885213 and deposited the premium of Rs.99,800/- with them. The said agent obtained the signatures of the complainant on some blank papers and blank printed forms and allured him that he is required to deposit only one single premium of Rs.99,800/- and after the completion of 3 years from the date of commencement of the policy, he can withdraw his amount alongwith interest and other benefits. The said agent conveyed the complainant that the original policy documents would be sent to him shortly but despite repeated requests to the opposite party No.1, he has not received any policy documents till date. In the month of August, 2013 i.e. after the completion of 3 years of the abovesaid policy the complainant approached the opposite party No.1 and requested its officials to refund him the amount of the abovesaid policy alongwith interest and other benefits, but the officials of the opposite party No.1 conveyed him that there is no fund value in his policy account. The complainant repeatedly requested the opposite party No.1 to check the status of the abovesaid policy carefully, but the opposite party No.1 flatly refused to do so. Hence the present complaint filed by the complainant to seek the directions of this Forum to the opposite parties to refund the amount of Rs.99,800/- alongwith interest @ 18% p.a. from the date of its deposit till realization and to pay other benefits besides cost and compensation and to give him any other additional, alternative and consequential relief for which he may be found entitled to.
2. The opposite parties after appearing before this Forum have filed their joint written statement and pleaded that the complainant has already surrendered the policy in question and has already received the permissible surrender value towards the full and final settlement of all his claims under his policy. The permissible surrender value to the tune of Rs.36,925/- has been credited to the State Bank of Patiala in the account of the complainant bearing No.65013968236 vide NEFT transaction No.SIN00101Q5287637 that has been accepted by him without raising any protest, which clearly indicates that the complainant was fully satisfied with the payment of the surrender value. The opposite parties have mentioned in Para No.4 in their written statement regarding the surrender value and surrender charge. The table showing the amount payable as per the terms and conditions of the abovesaid policy is as under:-
'Policy No. 182885213
Product Name Unitgain Protection Plus II
Fund Name Equity Index Fund II
Surrender Units 2836.337
NAV as on 25-Sep-13 18.949
53745.75
Surrender Penalty 14970
ST @12.36% on Surrender Penalty 1850
Surrender Value 36925.46'
As per the terms and conditions of the policy, the permissible surrender value amount has already been paid to the complainant towards the full and final settlement of all his claims under the policy and nothing left i.e. to be paid to the complainant as per the terms and conditions of the contract. The risk for the investment portfolio is to be borne by the respective policyholder and the performance of underlying funds in the unit account of the unit linked policies depends on the market and other conditions. The fund value under the policy may increase or decrease depending on the market and other conditions and performance of the funds is beyond the control of the opposite parties. The corresponding surrender value which depends on the fund value and other applicable charges has already been paid to the complainant. No alleged promise to pay the amount after 3 years with interest upon payment of single premium, is part of the express terms of the policy. After fully understanding the feature, benefits, investment risks, charges and terms and conditions of the policy in question, the complainant filled a proposal form dated 4.8.2010 that has been duly signed by him and he opted to pay the yearly premiums to the tune of Rs.99,800/- for the period of 15 years and accordingly, the opposite parties accepted his proposal form and issued him the policy bearing No.0182885213. The original policy bond containing express terms and conditions of the contract has been dispatched to the complainant vide speed post No.EH23757115IN dated 11.8.2010, which has not been returned undelivered to the opposite parties. The complainant never disputed the receipt of the abovesaid policy for more than 3 years and continued to enjoy the benefits thereof including the risk cover of Rs.4,99,000/- without raising any objection. The complainant was offered a Free Look period of 15 days to cancel his policy, but he has not raised any objection during that period also. The complainant did not pay the premium due on 9.8.2011.
3. The parties have led their evidence in support of their respective pleadings.
4. Arguments heard. The record alongwith written submissions submitted by the parties perused.
5. The undisputed facts of the complaint are that the complainant has purchased the insurance policy bearing No.0182885213 with the commencement date of 4.8.2010 and deposited the premium of Rs.99,800/- with the opposite parties.
6. The disputed facts are that the adviser of the opposite parties allured the complainant that he has to pay only one time single premium of Rs.99,800/- and after the completion of 3 years from the date of commencement of the policy, he can withdraw his amount alongwith interest and other benefits. The said agent gave only policy bearing No.0182885213 to the complainant and assured him that the original policy documents would be sent to him shortly but despite repeated requests to the opposite party No.1, he has not received any policy documents till date. In the month of August, 2013 i.e. after the completion of 3 years of the abovesaid policy, the complainant approached the opposite party No.1 and requested its officials to refund him the amount of the abovesaid policy alongwith interest and other benefits, but its officials conveyed him that there is no fund value in his policy account.
7. On the other hand the submission of the opposite parties is that as per the terms and conditions of the abovesaid policy, the permissible surrender value to the tune of Rs.36,925/- has been credited to the State Bank of Patiala in the account of the complainant bearing No.65013968236 vide NEFT transaction No.SIN00101Q5287637 that has been accepted by him without raising any protest, which clearly indicates that he was fully satisfied with the payment of the surrender value. The original policy bond containing express terms and conditions of the contract has been dispatched to the complainant vide speed post No.EH23757115IN dated 11.8.2010, which has not been returned undelivered to the opposite parties. The complainant never disputed the receipt of the abovesaid policy for more than 3 years and continued to enjoy the benefits thereof including the risk cover of Rs.4,99,000/- without raising any objection. The complainant was offered the option of Free Look period of 15 days to cancel his policy, but he has not availed that option, which shows that he was fully satisfied with the abovesaid policy and has accepted its terms and conditions.
8. As per the terms and conditions of the policy in question the Surrender Value and Surrender Charge are given as under:-
“Surrender Value:-(a) The surrender value payable, if any, will be equal to the Regular Premium Fund Value less the surrender charge, if any, plus the Top Up Premium Fund Value, if any.
(b) From the fourth policy year the policyholder may, at anytime, surrender the policy.
(c) If regular premium falling due during the first three policy years have not been paid and the company has not received any written request from the policyholder to surrender the policy, the surrender value as defined above will be based on the unit price as on date of termination of the policy and would be payable at the expiry of the revival period of four years.
(d) If regular premium falling due during the first three policy years have not been paid and the company has received a written request from the policyholder to surrender the policy, the surrender value as defined above will be based on the unit price as applicable on date of receipt of request for surrender of the policy. The surrender value shall be payable after three policy years from the commencement of the policy.
Surrender Charges:-(16) Surrender charge as a percentage of first policy year's annualized premium is as follows:
Elapsed duration in months 1 to 35 36 to 47 48 to 59 60 onwards
Percentage 60% 15% 10% 0%
No surrender charge will be applied on units in respect of Top-up premium.”
In para No.4 of their written statement the opposite parties on Preliminary Objections have reproduced the table showing the amount payable as per the terms and conditions of the policy:-
“Policy No. 182885213
Product Name Unitgain Protection Plus II
Fund Name Equity Index Fund II
Surrender Units 2836.337
NAV as on 25-Sep-13 18.949
53745.75
Surrender Penalty 14970
ST @12.36% on Surrender Penalty 1850
Surrender Value 36925.46”
In the above mentioned table the NAV as on 25.9.2013 is given as 18.949(units); Surrender units:-2836.337 and Surrender amount:-Rs.53745.75/-, whereas the Surrender Penalty has been imposed to the tune of Rs.14,970/- and Service Tax @ 12.36% has been imposed on surrender penalty to the tune of Rs.1850/- and after deducting these amounts the surrender value amount paid to the complainant to the tune of Rs.36,925/-. In the above mentioned table no reference has been given to the surrender penalty. If there is no reference of surrender penalty, then no service tax can be deducted on the surrender penalty. Thus the opposite parties have deducted the amount of Rs.14,970/-+Rs.1850/- beyond the terms and conditions of the policy in question. The opposite parties can deduct the amount @15% only as the policy lapsed during 36 to 47 months. Thus the opposite parties can deduct the amount of Rs.8062/- out of Rs.53,745/-. The amount of Rs.36,925/- has already been paid to the complainant during the pendency of this complaint but the opposite parties have withheld the amount of Rs.8758/-.
9. Thus from the facts and evidence placed on file we are of the considered opinion that there is deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties. Hence this complaint is partly accepted with Rs.3000/- as cost and compensation against the opposite parties. The opposite parties are directed to refund the amount of Rs.8758/- to the complainant.
10. The compliance of this order be done within 45 days from the date of receipt of the copy of this order.
11. In case of non-compliance the interest @ 9% per annum will yield on the amount of Rs.8758/- till realization.
12. A copy of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of cost and file be consigned to the record room.
Pronounced in open Forum:-
27-01-2014
(Vikramjit Kaur Soni)
President
(Sukhwinder Kaur)
Member
(Jarnail Singh)
Member
