DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, KANDHAMAL, PHULBANI
C.C NO. 28 OF 2016
Present: Sri Rabindranath Mishra - President.
Miss Sudhiralaxmi Pattanaik - Member.
Sri Purna Chandra Tripathy- Member.
Bhagyalata Sahu, aged about 33 years
W/O: Late Ananta Kumar Sahu At: Anduguda
PO: Linepada PS: Tikabali, Dist: Kandhamal ………………….. Complainant.
Versus.
1. Branch Manager,
State Bank of India, Linepada Branch
At/Po: Linepada PS: Tikabali Dist: Kandhamal. ……………………… OPP. Parties
For the Complainant: Self.
For the Opp. Parties: -Sri V.V.Ramdas, Advocate, Phulbani
Date or order: 30-12-2016.
O R D E R
The case of the Complainant in brief is that her husband Sri Ananta Kumar Sahu is a Consumer under the O.P having a Saving Bank Pass Book Account No.30889048499. He had deposited Rs. 12/- through his pass book on 28-05-2015 under PMSBY scheme (Pradhan Mantri Surakhya Bima Yojana), but on 21-10-2015 the husband of the Complainant was died in a road accident. Then the Complainant lodged F.I.R before the concerned police station and applied to the O.P to settle the death claim of her husband as per the provision of PMSBY scheme. As she has not received any amount from the O.P under the Insurance benefit of PMSBY scheme, she has filed this complaint through the consumer counseling center, Phulbani claiming Rs. 200,000/- along with compensation.
The case of the O.P as per his version is that the Complainant failed to submit duly filled insurance claim form in time to the O.P, rather she deposited an empty form after four months of the death of her husband and the same was repudiated by the O.P as not filed within 30 days of the death of her husband .Further the case of the O.P is that the Complaint is not
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maintainable both in fact and law and the Complainant is not a Consumer under section 2(1)(d)of C.P Act.
During course of hearing we have heard the Complainant and the learned counsel appearing for the O.P. We have gone through the complaint petition, the version filed by the O.P and the copy of the documents filed by the Complainant in support of her case. It is seen from the first information report and the post mortem report and also from the certificate of death that the husband of the Complainant was died on 21-10-2015 in the causality of MKCG Medical College, Berhampur. It is also seen from the copies of the pass book of the deceased that the Insurance coverage under PMSBY scheme was valid from 28-05-2015 till 31-05-2016. As per provision of the scheme, the Nominee of the deceased is entitled to get Rs. 200,000/- as death benefit in case of accidental death. So in this case the only point of consideration is that the claim application filed by the Complainant before the O.P was time barred. The O.P has not submitted any relevant papers to establish his claim that the Complainant has not filed any claim application in time. The Complainant is a widow and not an educated woman. So, refusal of the O.P to settle the Insurance claim of the Complainant for the accidental death of her husband is coming under deficiency in service on the part of the O.P. The PMSBY scheme was introduced by the Central government for the benefit of the common people. So, technicalities of the procedure should be avoided as this Act is meant to protect the interest of the Consumers.
As per above discussion the complaint petition filed by the Complainant is allowed. The O.P is directed to settle the Insurance claim of the Complainant and to release Rs.200,000/- in favor of the Complainant after performing all the formalities of the scheme within 30 days from the date of receipt of this order . In case of failure the Complainant shall be entitled to get 18% annum interest on the awarded amount from the date of order till the date of payment.
The C.C is disposed of accordingly. Supply free copies of this order to both the parties at an early date.
MEMBER MEMBER PRESIDENT
