BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, AMRITSAR.

Consumer Complaint No. 117 of 2016

Date of Institution: 9.3.2016

Date of Decision: 12.07.2016  

Karan Kumar son of Shri Narata Ram, resident of Plot No. 6607, Gali Khilonian Wali, Lahori Gate,  Amritsar

Complainant

Versus

Bank of India, Majith Mandi Branch, Amritsar through its branch manager

Opposite Party

Complaint under section 12 and 13 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as amended upto date.

Present: For the Complainant: Sh.Pawan Kumar,Advocate

              For Opposite Party  : Sh.Kulwant Singh,Advocate

Coram

Sh.S.S.Panesar, President

Ms.Kulwant Kaur Bajwa, Member

Mr.Anoop Sharma, Member  

Order dictated by:

Sh.S.S. Panesar, President.

1.       Karan Kumar has brought the instant complaint under section 12 & 13 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 on the allegations that complainant is permanent resident of  Plot No. 6607, Gali Khilonian Wali, Lahori Gate, Amritsar and is a law abiding citizen of India. The complainant is holding an account No. 630210110000458 with the opposite party bank and as such the complainant is the consumer qua the opposite party as defined under the provisions of Consumer Protection Act. The complainant was also issued master card facility against the said account  being debit card/ATM Card. In the end of August 2015  and in September 2015, complainant went on tour to Agra. At Agra, complainant with-drew amount by using the ATM card of Bank of Baroda on 21.9.2015 Rs. 10000/- and then Rs. 5000/- . Further a sum of Rs. 5000/- was credited to the account of the complainant on 22.9.2015. Again the complainant was in need of money and he again withdrew amount of Rs. 10000/- from the  same ATM of Bank of Baroda at Agra on 23.9.2015. At that time, the balance in account of the complainant was Rs. 12,552/-. But to the utter surprise of the complainant, when he went to withdraw amount from account on 24.9.2015, there was debit balance of only Rs. 2532/- . In order to avoid any complication , complainant withdrew the amount of Rs. 2520/- from the account by using ATM card. Thereafter complainant approached the opposite party  and  obtained statement of account and was very much surprised to see entry of Rs. 10020/-  of withdrawal on 23.9.2015 itself, whereas no such withdrawal was ever made by the complainant. Said entry in the account of the complainant was wrong. The complainant lodged a complaint with the opposite party but till date nothing has been done in this regard. The amount of Rs. 10020/- haws been illegally withdrawn from the account of the complainant and the same has not been debited to the account of the complainant nor any satisfactory reply has been given to the complainant. So much so legal notice dated 7.1.2016  was given to the opposite party, but they had made a false reply dated 13.1.2016 in which no explanation at all has been given and they had not complied with the notice. The complainant has sought for following reliefs vide instant complaint :-

(i)      Opposite party be directed to  credit the amount of Rs. 10,020/-  alongwith interest  @ 24% p.a  to the account of the complainant.

(ii)     Compensation of Rs. 50000/-  for the mental pain, agony, harassment and inconvenience be awarded to the complainant alongwith litigation expenses of Rs. 22000/- be also awarded to the complainant.

Hence, this complaint.

2.       Upon notice, opposite party appeared and filed written reply contesting the claim of the complainant  taking certain preliminary objections therein inter alia that present complaint filed  by the complainant against the opposite party is not legally maintainable; that the present complaint is bad for non joinder of necessary parties .Bank of Baroda from whose ATM the complainant has withdrawn the amount is a necessary party to the present complaint ; that there is no deficiency of service on the part of the opposite party, as such the present complaint  is liable to be dismissed against the opposite party. On merits, it is denied that the complainant was having  sufficient debit balance in the end of August 2015. It is further denied for want of knowledge that in the month of September 2015, the complainant  went on a tour to Agra as alleged. The complainant has narrated the concocted story  in this para. It is  submitted that complainant is having SB account No. 630210110000458 with the opposite party. The ATM card has been issued in that account. There was a credit balance of Rs. 35,552.05 in the said account as on 19.9.2015. The complainant has withdrawn the amount of Rs. 3000/- on 19.9.2015, Rs. 10000/- on 21.9.2015, Rs. 5000/- on 21.9.2015 leaving the balance of Rs. 17,552.05/-. Thereafter complainant deposited Rs. 5000/- in the said account on 22.9.2015 and thus the credit balance in the said account came to be Rs. 22,552.05/- as on 22.9.2015. The complainant withdrew the amount of Rs. 10000/- on 23.9.2015, Rs. 10000/- on 23.9.2015 and Rs. 2520/- on 24.9.2015. Thereafter the balance in the said account comes to Rs. 12.05 paise as on 24.9.2015. The said amount has been withdrawn by the complainant by operating the ATM from the ATM machines of Bank of Baroda. The opposite party bank has debited the amount which has been withdrawn by the complainant through ATM. The opposite party bank has debited the amount of Rs. 20/- in the account of the complainant as the complainant has made the excess transactions through ATM  from his aforesaid account. It is further submitted that on 23.9.2015, the complainant has withdrawn the total amount of Rs. 20000/- by inserting his ATM for two times from the ATM of Bank of Baroda. The said amount has been duly received by the complainant and the said transactions has been recorded as “Successful transaction” in the record of the opposite party Bank of India and the said amount has been duly debited in the saving bank account of the complainant on 23.9.2015. It is further submitted that the complainant has made the complaint to the opposite party Bank of India regarding alleged non receipt of the said amount of Rs. 10000/- on 23.9.2015 and accordingly the opposite party Bank of India has enquired the matter from Bank of Baroda. The opposite party has also referred the matter to the higher authorities  and the matter was also referred to the Dispute Management System and after conducting the proper verification, it has been duly replied by the said authority that the transaction in question has been recorded as “Successful Transaction” as the complainant has received the said amount from the ATM on 23.9.2015. There is absolutely no deficiency of service on the part of the opposite party and prayer for dismissal of the complaint with cost was made.

3.       In his bid to prove the case complainant tendered into evidence his affidavit Ex.CW1/A, copy of transaction receipt Ex.C-1 & Ex.C-2, copy of passbook Ex.C-3, copy of legal notice Ex.C-4, copy of reply to legal notice Ex.C-5, affidavit of Sh.Kishan Lal Ex.CW2/A and closed his evidence.

4.       To rebut the aforesaid evidence Sh.Kulwant Singh,Adv.counsel for the opposite party tendered affidavit of Amandeep Kaur, Sr.Manager Ex.OP1, copy of statement of account Ex.OP2, copies of ATM Roll Ex.OP3 to Ex.OP5, copies of order of ATM Cell Ex.OP6 and Ex.OP7 and closed the evidence on behalf of the opposite party.

5.       We have heard the ld.counsel for the parties and have carefully gone through the record on the file.

6.       From the appreciation of the evidence on record, it becomes evident that complainant is account holder with Bank of India, Majith Mandi Branch,Amritsar holding  account No. 630210110000458. It is also an admitted fact that debit card/ATM facility has also been extended by the opposite party to the complainant against said account. It is also proved on record that the complainant withdrew amount of Rs. 10000/- on 21.9.2015 and then Rs. 5000/- on 21.9.2015 by using the ATM card from the ATM machine of Bank of Baroda. The complainant had disputed that he has withdrawn a sum of Rs. 10000/- only on 23.9.2015, whereas the pass book shows that an amount of Rs. 10000/- & Rs. 10020/- each has been withdrawn vide two transactions on 23.9.2015. The complainant also made a complaint to the bank authorities regarding the discrepancy in the account vide which a sum of Rs. 10,000/- has been wrongly shown to be withdrawn on 23.9.2015. But,however, after enquiry , opposite party came to the conclusion that the transaction has been successful and there was no hanky panky in the withdrawal made  by the complainant on 23.9.2015. Moreover, instant matter relates to account which is beyond the realm of this Forum. We draw support in this connection from Ashok Leyland Finance Limited Vs. Himanshu S.Thumar 2005(II) CPJ page 92 , wherein the Hon’ble Gujarat State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Ahmedabad  has  held that account dispute is not a consumer dispute and the complaint should not have been entertained by the  District Consumer Forum.

7.       As such instant complaint before the District Forum is not maintainable. If the complainant has any grievance, he may approach the civil court for disposal of his grievance in accordance with law. Instant complaint stands disposed of accordingly. Case could not be disposed of within the stipulated period due to heavy pendency of the cases in this Forum.Copies of the orders be furnished to the parties free of costs. File is ordered to be consigned to the record room.

Announced in Open Forum

Dated : 12.7.2016

/R/