Delhi

East Delhi

CC/214/2020

TARLA VERMA - Complainant(s)

Versus

CANARA BANK - Opp.Party(s)

07 Mar 2023

ORDER

DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION (EAST)

GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI

CONVENIENT SHOPPING CENTRE, FIRST FLOOR,

SAINI ENCLAVE, DELHI – 110 092

 

C.C. NO. 214/2020

 

	TARLA VERMA W/o SH. ASHISH VARMA, R/o L-71, SECTOR 25, JAL VAYU VIHAR, NOIDA -201301	….Complainant
Versus
	THE MANAGER, CANARA BANK, VIKAS DEEP BUILDING, DISTRICT CENTRE, LAXMI NAGAR BRANCH, DELHI – 110092.	……OP

 

Date of Institution: 27.10.2020

Judgment Reserved on: 03.03.2023

Judgment Passed on: 07.03.2023

               

QUORUM:

Sh. S.S. Malhotra (President)

Sh. Ravi Kumar (Member)- Leave

Ms. Rashmi Bansal (Member)

 

Order By: Sh. S.S. Malhotra (President)

 

JUDGEMENT

1. By this Order the Commission shall dispose off the complaint filed by the Complainant against OP alleging deficiency in service on account of unauthorized withdrawal of Rs.19,999/- from her account No.2768101000411 on 15.07.2019 and same amount again on 16.07.2019.
2. The Complainant has stated in her complaint that she is maintaining Savings Account No. 2768101000411 with the OP and was issued with one Debit Card linked with that account.  She had made online booking with ‘Viral Deal’ for purchase of some article which was returned back by her and she had claimed refund of her amount.  In this process she was contacted by one Avinash Kumar (Mobile No.7070834463) when he asked her to give last 4 digits of her Debit Card for effecting the refund which was shared by her as these last 4 digits are reflected in every transaction with the merchant.  Re.1/- was withdrawn by the said Avinash Kumar from her account and was credited to Dena Bank UPI App and he promised her to refund the amount next day.  She has further stated that she has never downloaded or used UPI App till date.  On 15.07.2019 an amount of Rs.19,999/- was withdrawn from her account and credited to Dena Bank UPI App illegally and unauthorizedly.  She immediately contacted Avinash Kumar who denied having withdrawn the said amount.
3. The Complainant immediately approached OP and requested to take appropriate action including request to block her account and she made a written complaint for investigation and requested for refund and ensuring such illegal and unauthorized withdrawal do not occur.  No copy or receipt was given to her.  However, the Debit Card of the Complainant was broken by the Lady Manager of the OP and the Complainant received the message on 15.07.2020 at 15:36:27 Annexure C of the complaint – (wrongly written as 16.07.2020 in her complaint).  She also lodged complaint with the Police Station, Preet Vihar on 16.07.2019 in respect of illegal withdrawal of Rs.19,999/- on 15.07.2019.  Despite of blocking and breaking her Debit Card by the OP, her account was again debited on 16.07.2019 with Rs.19,999/- and she lodged complaint with the OP again.
4. It is further stated by the complainant that the OP replied vide their letter dated 18.07.2019 stating that on account of her request to not to freeze the account and making request only for de-activation of the Debit Card since she wanted to make transactions in the account for RD etc. and freezing of her account could not be done on 15.07.2019 and that in her FIR dated 16.07.2019 she had clearly stated that she had shared ATM Card details with the said Avinash Kumar for refund of Rs.700/- and when she reported the incident in person to the OP branch then she on her own had accepted that she had shared the OTP hence there was no lapse on the part of OP.  The Complainant wrote back letter dated 29.07.2019 wherein she denied having shared OTP and that she has never stated so in her letter dated 17.07.2019.  Representations of the complainant was replied by the OP denying reimbursement of the amount for the reason that Complainant had shared OTP and Card details.  The Complainant finally filed complaint before this Commission seeking following prayer:

• That the OP be directed to refund the amount of Rs.39998/- with interest @ 18% from the date of debit till the date of realization. 
• Award compensation of Rs.50,000/- towards mental harrassment due to gross negligence by the OP.
• Cost of litigation of Rs.10,000/-

5. OP has filed its Written Statement wherein it has stated that the Complainant has not come with clean hands before this Commission.  The Complainant was dealing with Mr. Avinash of Viral Deal and she had provided all her credentials of the account such as Debit Card Number, PIN number, OTP, UPI PIN number/MPIN hence she herself is responsible for the fraudulent withdrawals in her account.  When the Complainant visited OP on 15.07.2019 then she was advised by OP to hotlist the Debit Card number 4687792768002051 and to change her mobile number and to debit freeze or to close the account and open a new account to avoid fraud.  However, Complainant insisted only for de-actvation of the Debit Card which was done immediately and the reason why she chose for not freezing the debit /closing her account was that she would be receiving salary /credits and some RD transactions to be done in her account hence her account could not be blocked for debit freeze on 15.07.2019.  On 17.07.2019 she again approached the OP to freeze the account as she said that one more authorized transaction has been done in her account.  The Complainant asked for freezing her account and opening a new account only on 23.07.2019 and her new account number SB 2768101010208 with new mobile number was opened.  Further, from the FIR dated 16.07.2019 it is clear that Complainant has shared her ATM details with  Avinash Kumar which she has also reported on 15.07.2019, 16.07.2019 and 17.07.2019.  In her police complaint dated 16.07.2019, Complainant has stated that Mr. Avinash withdrew Re.1/- on 14.07.2019 which shows that she had shared all her credentials of the account such as Debit Card number, PIN number/ MPIN with him and without sharing of OTP and other details, transaction is impossible and she has filed the complaint against the OP with ulterior motive to take money from OP bank. 
6. Complainant has filed Rejoinder denying the averments made by the OP in its Written Statement.  She has submitted that OP has suppressed RBI Circular No.RBI/2017-18 DBR No.Leg.BC.78/09 07.005/2017-18 dated 06.07.2017 which states as follows:

‘On receipt of report of an unauthorized transaction from the customer, banks must take immediate steps to prevent further unauthorized transactions in the account’.   

7. The Complainant has stated that she was completely unaware that the transaction dated 14.07.2019, 15.07.2019 and 16.07.2019 were through UPI which App Complainant had never downloaded.  It is common knowledge that last 4 digits of Debit Card are reflected even in the receipts kept by the merchant after a transaction.  After the unauthorized transaction on 15.07.2019 she made complaint to the OP however OP failed to block the account and failed to take all necessary steps to stop further withdrawals.  She has reiterated that on 15.07.2019 the Lady Officer of the OP broke the Debit Card of the Complainant but did not bother to see that the transaction was through UPI and she failed to freeze the account and to overcome her deficiency and to cover up the lapse, the OP has come out with its defense that she (Complainant) had shared her credentials of the Debit Card and Bank Account with Mr. Avinash.
8. The Complainant has filed her evidence by way of affidavit wherein she has marked following documents as exhibit:

• Copy of Bank Statement as exhibit CW1/A. 
• Copy of Passbook as exhibit CW1/B.
• Message dated 16.07.2020 received from the OP as exhibit CW1/C.
• Copy of Police report as exhibit CW1/D.
• Copy of Police Report dated 16.07.2019 as exhibit CW1/E.
• Copy of letter dated 17.07.2019 as exhibit CW1/F.
• Copy of reply of OP dated 18.07.2019 as exhibit CW1/G.
• Copy of letter dated 29.07.2019 as exhibit CW1/H.
• Copy of letter dated 16.09.2019 as exhibit CW1/I.
• Copy of Order dated 16.09.2019 of OP as exhibit CW1/J.
• Copy of RBI Circular No.RBI/2017-18 DBR No.Leg.BC.78/09 07.005/2017-18 dated 06.07.2017 as exhibit CW1/K.

9. OP has also filed its evidence by way of affidavit wherein it has exhibited following documents:

• Copy of Power of Attorney of Ms. Anupama Gautam, Officer of OP as exhibit OPW 1/1. 
• Copy of letter dated 15.07.2019 of Complainant requesting only to deactivate the ATM Card as exhibit OPW 1 / 2. 
• Copy of Passbook as exhibit OPW 1/3.
•   Statement of Account of the Complainant as exhibit OPW 1/4.
• Copy of report dated 07.09.2019 as exhibit OPW 1/5.
• Copy of complaint made to Police as exhibit OPW 1/6.
• Letter dated 16.09.2019 of OP as exhibit OPW 1/7.

10. This Commission has heard the arguments of both sides and has gone through the documents available on record. 
11. There are two transactions in the matter. One on 15.07.2019 and second on 16.07.2019. It is admitted case of the complainant that she shared some particular with Avinash Kumar and then her amount was debited with Rs.19999/- same day. The issues is whether by mere sharing the last four digit, the amount of the complainant can be debited. The simple answer is “no”. The complainant in order to receive  her arrear amount back from ‘viral deal’ must have shared all the particular to third person which went into wrong hands and as such the amount was withdrawn from the bank account. It cannot in believed that by mere sharing of four digits of debit card, an amount of Rs.1/- would have been got debited from her account. It appears that complainant is not coming with clean hands. Unless she had shared all the particular, no amount could have been debited from her account. Therefore, there appear to no deficiency on the part of OP as far as the transaction dated 15.07.2019 is concerned as the same cannot be termed as unauthorised transaction as stated in RBI Circular.
12. However, as far as IInd transaction is concerned the contention of complainant appear to be is well ‘found’. Once she has approach the bank with respect to her grievance, the bank instead of showing sympathy on her had to follow the RBI guidelines to protect the interest of its customers. Once the card has been broken, there could not have been any transaction on next day, if the OP Bank would have followed the procedure. In support of its contention the bank has neither filed any document nor the affidavit of the concerned official, who broke the debit card of complainant but did not freeze her account.
13. As per RBI Circular No.RBI/2017-18 DBR No.Leg.BC.78/09 07.005/2017-18 dated 06.07.2017 (exhibit CW1/K), it was the duty of the OP to take immediate steps to prevent further unauthorized transaction in the account of the Complainant which included freezing of the account. Name freezing the account of complainant by OP resulted in further unauthorized transaction of Rs.19,999/- on the next day i.e. 16.07.2019 in the account of the Complainant and this amount to gross deficiency in providing the protection by the bank to its customers and therefore deficiency on the part of OP is stands proved.
14. For the reasons stated above, this Commission holds OP liable for deficiency in service to the extent of not freezing the account of the Complainant on 15/07/2019 despite of having received the complaint about the alleged unauthorized debit of Rs.19,999/- in her account on 15/07/2019 by not adhering to the RBI Circular dated 06.07.2017 which resulted in further unauthorized debit in the account of the Complainant on 16.07.2019 for Rs.19999/- and the Commission orders as follows:

• OP to pay Rs.19,999/- with respect to the transaction dated 16.07.2019 to the Complainant alongwith interest @7% from 16.07.2019 within 30 days of receipt of this order and in case of non compliance the OP shall pay interest @ 9% on the above amount till the date of payment. However the prayer of the complainant w.r.t. transaction dated 15.07.2019, there appears to be no deficiency in service by the OP.
• OP shall also pay Rs.5000/- towards mental agony and Rs.3000/- towards cost of litigation to the Complainant.  

This order be complied with within 30 days from the date of receipt of the order.

Copy of the order be supplied/sent to the parties free of cost as per rules.

File be consigned to Record Room.

Announced on 07.03.2023.