BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPTUES REDRESSAL FORUM, KAITHAL.
Complaint no.257/14.
Date of instt.: 08.12.2014.
Date of Decision: 04.04.2016.
Bablu Saini S/o Sant Ram R/o Ward No.5, Safidon, Distt. Jind.
……….Complainant.
Versus
1. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Ltd., Ist Floor, Amar Tara Complex, Kurukshetra Road, Kaithal (Haryana) through its Branch Manager.
2. Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Ltd., Registered Office, one India Bulls Centre, Tower-I, 16th Floor, Jupiter Mill Compound, 841 Serapati Bapat Marg, Elphinstone Road, Mumbai-400013, through its authorized signatory.
..……..Opposite Parties.
COMPLAINT UNDER SEC. 12 OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 1986.
Before: Sh. Jagmal Singh, President.
Sh. Rajbir Singh, Member.
Smt. Harisha Mehta, Member.
Present : Sh. Krishan Saini, Advocate for complainant.
Sh. Vikram Tiwari, Advocate for the opposite parties.
ORDER
(JAGMAL SINGH, PRESIDENT).
The complainant has filed the present complaint under Section 12 of Consumer Protection Act, 1986, with the averments that in the month of March, 2014, one Agency Manager of Op No.1 namely Mr. Ram Bhool Sharma met with the complainant and asked him for purchasing a life insurance policy and the complainant desired him for any such policy which could mature in 15 years and also received a sum of Rs.31,296/- as first instalment of the said policy. It is further alleged that after getting the policy documents from the Op No.1, the complainant came to know that the above named Ram Bhool Sharma gave him a Vision Life Income Plan and its policy number is 006451619 dt. 24.03.2014 which was different plan as complainant desired to purchase. It is further alleged that the complainant approached the Ops several times to cancel the said policy but the Ops refused to cancel the said policy. This way, the Ops are deficient in service. Hence, this complaint is filed.
2. Upon notice, the opposite parties appeared before this forum and filed written statement raising preliminary objections with regard to maintainability; cause of action; locus-standi; that the complainant-life assured had submitted a proposal/application form for the purchase of insurance policy and proposal form was accepted on the standard rates based on the information provided by the complainant and consequently, a policy bearing No.00645169 dt. 24.03.2014 was issued to the complainant; that before acceptance of the proposal by the answering Ops, the contents of proposal/application and illustrations were read and explained to the complainant in Hindi & English language and after understanding all the terms and conditions of the policy, the proposal form was signed by the complainant; that the policy documents were delivered to the complainant provided him a period of 15 days called “Free look in period” within which he could have returned the policy to the answering Ops. The free look in period in the present policy commenced from the date of receiving the policy i.e. 01.04.2014. The act and conduct of the complainant in not returning/surrendering the policy within the given time signified his acceptance of the terms and conditions mentioned in the said policy documents. There is no deficiency in service on the part of answering Ops. On merits, the contents of complaint are denied and so, prayed for dismissal of complaint.
3. In support of his case, the complainant tendered in evidence affidavit Ex.CA and documents Ex.C1 to Ex.C10 and closed evidence on 07.09.2016. On the other hand, the Ops tendered in evidence affidavit Ex.Op1/A and documents Ex.Op1 to Ex.Op5 and closed evidence on 25.01.2016.
4. We have heard ld. counsel for both the parties and perused the case file carefully and minutely and have also gone through the evidence led by the parties.
5. From the pleadings and evidence of the parties, we found that the dispute between the parties is that as per complainant, the complainant purchased a life insurance policy bearing No.0064551619 dt. 24.03.2014 from the Ops but the Ops changed the plan in the said policy and mentioned the plan “Vision Life Income Plan” instead of another plan. The Ops have placed on file copy of proposal form, Ex.Op5. In the said proposal form, the plan name is mentioned as “Vision Life Income Plan” and in the column of pay term, the period is mentioned as 15 years. The complainant has also put his signatures on the said proposal form. Moreover, the policy documents delivered to the complainant provided him a period of 15 days called “Free Look in Period” within which he could have returned the policy to the Ops and the free look-in period in the present policy was commenced after receiving the policy by the complainant i.e. 01.04.2014. The complainant did not return the policy documents to the Ops within “Free Look in Period”. The complainant wrote letter to Branch Manager, Jind, Ex.C6 regarding issuance of wrong policy but the complainant did not mention the date on this letter and the same was received by the Ops on 03.05.2014 which means that the said letter was written by the complainant after the expiry of “Free Look in Period. So, the complainant has failed to prove any deficiency on the part of Ops.
6. Thus, in view of above discussion, we find no merit in the present complaint and we hereby dismiss the same. No order as to costs. A copy of this order be sent to both the parties free of costs. File be consigned to the record room after due compliance.
Announced.
Dt.04.04.2016.
(Jagmal Singh),
President.
(Harisha Mehta), (Rajbir Singh),
Member. Member.
