IN THE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, PATHANAMTHITTA, Dated this the 17th day of September, 2010. Present : Sri. Jacob Stephen (President). Smt. C. Lathika Bhai (Member) N. Premkumar (Member) C.C. No. 151/2009 (Filed on 11.11.2009)Between: Jibu.P. Joy (rep. by) P.G. Joy, Parappattu House, Thekkekuri, Puthenpeedika, Pathanamthitta. .... Complainant. And: Branch Manager, National Insurance Company Ltd., Pathanamthitta Branch, Pathanamthitta. .... Opposite party. ORDER Sri. Jacob Stephen (President): The complainant has filed this complaint against the opposite party for getting a relief from the Forum. 2. The complainant’s case in brief is as follows: The complainant is the owner of Maruthi Car bearing registration No.KL-3J/5024. The said car is insured with the opposite party vide policy No.571402/31/8/6100008530) valid from 10.08.2008 to 09.08.2009. As per the terms and conditions of the policy, the opposite party indemnifies the insured for the loss caused to a third party due to the accident arising of the use of the insured vehicle. While so, the complainant’s vehicle caused damage to an electric post under Electrical Section, Kozhencherry on 27.06.2009. The Electricity Authorites assessed the loss of the electric post and directed the complainant to pay an amount of ` 24,210 which was paid by the complainant to the Electricity Board. Thereafter, the complainant approached the opposite party claiming the said amount. But the opposite party denied the claim by saying lame excuses. The complainant is entitled to get the claim amount. The denial of the claim amount is a deficiency in service, which caused mental agony and financial loss to the complainant. Hence this complaint for the realisation of the claim amount of ` 24,210 with its interest along with compensation of ` 5,000 and cost of ` 1,000/- from the opposite party. 3. The filed version of the opposite party is as follows: They admitted the issuance of the policy, its validity, the accident and the complainant’s claim. According to the opposite party, as per the terms and conditions of the policy, the opposite party is not liable to pay the claim amount to the complainant as the insurance policy is for indemnifying the loss of a third party. The complainant is not a third party and hence the complainant is not entitled to get any amount from the opposite party for the damages caused to the Electricity Board. Moreover, the complainant had paid the amount to the Electricity Board without the consent of the opposite party. The Electricity Board can claim the damages only by filing an application before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal under Sec.166 of the M.V. Act. Without the intervention of MACT, the opposite party cannot make any payment to a third party for their damage. With the above contentions, the opposite party prays for the dismissal of the complaint, as they have not committed any deficiency of service. 4. On the basis of the pleadings of the parties, the following points were raised for consideration: (1) Whether the complaint is maintainable before this Forum? (2) Whether the relief sought for in the complaint are allowable? (3) Relief and Cost? 5. The evidence of this complaint consists of the proof affidavit of the complainant in lieu of chief examination and the proof affidavit of the opposite party and Exts.A1 to A4. After closure of evidence, both sides were heard. 6. Points 1 to 3: The complainant’s allegation against the opposite party is that his vehicle is insured with the opposite party and the said vehicle dashed against an electric post and thereby the Electricity Board had sustained a loss of ` 24,210 which was paid by the complainant. As per the terms and conditions of the policy, opposite party is liable to pay the said amount to the complainant. But they have denied the payment and the opposite party is liable to pay the said amount to the complainant. 7. In order to prove the complainant’s case, the complainant had filed a proof affidavit narrating his case along with 4 documents. On the basis of the proof affidavit filed by the complainant’s documents produced were marked as Exts.A1 to A4. Ext.A1 is the insurance certificate given by the opposite party in favour of the complainant to show that the vehicle is insured with the opposite party. Ext.A2 is the copy of the G.D. entry dated 29.06.2009 of Aranmula Police Station in respect of the accident. Ext.A3 is the notice dated 29.06.2009 issued by the Assistant Engineer, Electrical Section, Kozhencherry to the complainant demanding the payment of ` 24,200 from the complainant. Ext.A4 is the receipt issued by the Electrical Section, Kozhencherry for the receipt of ` 24,210 from the complainant. 8. On the other hand, the opposite party’s contention is that as per the terms and conditions of the policy, they are not liable to pay any amount to the complainant who had given it to a third party without the consent of the opposite party. The complainant had made the payment to the Electricity Board without the consent of the opposite party. The opposite party is liable to pay only if a third party approaches through an MACT for their loss due to an accident of an insured vehicle. In this case, Electricity Board has not approached opposite party through an MACT as per the M.V. Act. In the circumstances, they argued that they have not committed any deficiency in service. 9. To prove the contention of the opposite party, the opposite party filed a proof affidavit along with one document. On the basis of the proof affidavit, the document produced is marked as Ext.B1. Ext.B1 is the terms and conditions of Private Car Package Policy of the opposite party. 10. On the basis of the contentions of the parties, we have gone through the materials on record and found that there is no dispute regarding the validity of the policy, the accident, loss sustained to Electricity Board due to the accident and the payment of the complainant to the Electricity Board. The only argument raised by the opposite party for justifying the non-payment of the complainant’s claim is that the payment is made by the complainant without the consent of the opposite party and the Electricity Board has not approached the opposite party as per M.V. Act for the loss sustained by them due to the accident. The said argument is raised on the basis of the terms and conditions in Ext.B1. But as per clause (1)(ii) of Sec.2 of Ext.B1, opposite party is liable to pay the complainant’s claim. So the non-payment of the complainant’s claim cannot be justified and the said non-payment is a clear deficiency in service by a service provider to its consumer. Hence, we find that this complaint is maintainable and allowable as prayed for in the complaint with modifications. 11. In the result, this complaint is allowed, thereby the opposite party is directed to pay an amount of `24,210 (Rupees Twenty four thousand two hundred and ten only) to the complainant with 9% interest per annum from the date of filing of this complaint along with compensation of ` 2,500 (Rupees Two thousand five hundred only) and cost of ` 500 (Rupees Five hundred only) within 30 days from the date of receipt of this order, failing which the complainant is allowed to realise the whole amount ordered herein above with interest at the rate of 12% per annum from today till the whole realisation. Pronounced in the Open Forum on this the 17th day of September, 2010. (Sd/-) Jacob Stephen, (President) Smt. C. Lathika Bhai (Member) : (Sd/-) Sri. N. Premkumar (Member) : (Sd/-) Appendix: Witness examined on the side of the complainant : Nil. Exhibits marked on the side of the complainant: A1 : Certificate of insurance. A2 : G.D. extract of Aranmula Police Station dated 29.06.2009. A3 : Notice dated 29.06.2009 issued by the Asst. Engineer, Electrical Section, Kozhencherry to the complainant. A4 : Receipt dated 29.06.2009 for 24,210 issued by the Electrical Section, Kozhencherry to the complainant. Witness examined on the side of the opposite party : Nil. Exhibits marked on the side of the opposite party: B1 : Private Car Package Policy. (By Order) Senior Superintendent Copy to:- (1) P.G. Joy, Parappattu House, Thekkekuri, Puthenpeedika, Pathanamthitta. (2) Branch Manager, National Insurance Company Ltd., Pathanamthitta Branch, Pathanamthitta. (3) The Stock File.
| | HONORABLE LathikaBhai, Member | HONORABLE Jacob Stephen, PRESIDENT | HONORABLE N.PremKumar, Member | | 
