BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, SIRSA.
Consumer Complaint no. 672 of 2019.
Date of Institution : 21.11.2019.
Date of Decision : 21.11.2023.
Kashi Ram aged 64 years son of Shri Uday Ram @ Uda Ram, resident of village Panniwala Mota, District Sirsa.
……Complainant.
Versus.
1. The Branch Manager, Canara Bank Branch Panniwala Mota, District Sirsa.
2. ICICI Lombard General Insurance CompanyLtd., ICICI Lombard House, 414, Veer Savarkar Marg, Near Sidhi Vinayak Temple Prabha Devi, Mumbai- 400025 through its Managing Director.
3. ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited, 4th Floor Plot No. 149, Industrial Area, next to Hometel Hotel, Chandigarh- 160002.
...…Opposite parties.
Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
Before: SH. PADAM SINGH THAKUR ………………PRESIDENT
SMT. SUKHDEEP KAUR……………………MEMBER.
SH. OM PARKASH TUTEJA……………….MEMBER
Present: Sh. P.K. Bagria, Advocate for complainant.
Sh. Gurpreet Singh, Advocate for opposite party No.1.
Sh. R.K. Mehta, Advocate for opposite parties no.2 and 3.
ORDER
The complainant has filed the present complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (after amendment u/s 35 of C.P. Act, 2019) against the opposite parties (hereinafter referred as OPs).
2. In brief, the case of complainant is that he is an agriculturist having agricultural land situated in village Bhagsar, Tehsil and District Sirsa. The complainant is having a bank account bearing no. 2050840000256 with op no.1 and is having KCC limit with the bank. It is further averred that complainant got insured his crop under the scheme of Central Govt. namely Prime Minister Fasal Beema Yojna and paid the requisite insurance premium amount of Rs.4209/- on 26.07.2017 to op no.2 through op no.1 and as such his cotton crop of kharif, 2017 was insured. That complainant had sown cotton crop in his land measuring 72 kanals which was damaged due to natural calamities. The spot inspection was also conducted by the Agriculture department as well as officials of insurance company and they have also reported that farmers of village Bhagsar are entitled to claim amount of Rs.13,000/- per acre and as such other farmers have received the said amount but the complainant did not receive any claim amount from any of the ops despite his several requests and visits. The complainant also got served a legal notice upon ops but to no effect and as such ops have caused deficiency in service and unnecessary harassment to the complainant. Hence, this complaint.
3. On notice, ops appeared. Op no.1 filed written statement raising certain preliminary objections. It is submitted that crop of complainant was got insured with op no.2 and a sum of Rs.4209/- as insurance premium was remitted by answering op to op no.2 on 26.07.2017 after debiting the same from loan account of complainant. The coverage of risks to the insured crops were/ are subject to relevant terms and conditions of the insurance company and answering op has no role to play therein. The answering op submitted the relevant papers relating to the land holding of complainant to the insurance company which were supplied by complainant. As per the norms of the policy, the insurance company after insurance of the crop of a farmer had to verify the physical data by visiting the spot. So, the existence of standing crop at the spot was to be verified by the insurance company. Remaining contents of complaint are also denied to be wrong. It is Further submitted that insurance claim was to be paid by insurance company. That as per information collected by answering op, the complainant failed to provide his aadhar card to answering op and also failed to update his KYC by linking his aadhar card with his account, which was mandatory for claiming the crop loss insurance claim. So, the complainant is not entitled to get any amount from answering op and prayer for dismissal of complaint qua op no.1 made.
4. Ops no.2 and 3 also filed written version taking certain preliminary objections. It is submitted that as per complaint loss of cotton crop has been effected in village Bhagsar, Tehsil and District Sirsa due to the reason mentioned in the loss assess report “Rains not lead to Inundation” which has not been covered under the terms and conditions of the insurance policy. The insurance of farmer has been done on the basis of good faith and declaration made by banker of farmer and if any mistake is done by complainant or by bank of complainant, insurance company cannot be held liable for claim amount and as such complaint is liable to be dismissed being not maintainable. Other preliminary objections regarding jurisdiction, non intimation, non submission of proof of loss or weather report, limited coverage as per scheme, yield basis claims are decided by Government, no survey no quanification of loss, no privity of contract and non impleading of necessary parties are also taken. On merits, it is submitted that no intimation ever received regarding the loss of crop from the complainant as well as any other agencies. However, the claim of complainant was rejected as the crop loss occurred due to Rains but the same is not leading to Inundation which is covered for loss under the scheme and complainant has made a false, bogus and baseless story just to grab the compensation. It is further submitted that it is not an individual insurance policy like other insurance policies rather it is a group insurance scheme in accordance with agreed terms and conditions of scheme which are binding on all of concerned related to the scheme. The complainant should have approached to DAC & FW department for any kind of grievance related to scheme or claim and the decision of said department would be binding on all state Government/ Insurance Company/ Banks and farmers but instead of this, complainant has approached this Commission by violating standard terms and conditions of scheme. Remaining contents of complaint are also denied to be wrong and prayer for dismissal of complaint made.
5. The complainant in evidence has tendered copy of pass book Ex.C1, statement of account Ex.C2, legal notice Ex.C3, postal receipt Ex.C4 and copy of khasra girdawari for the year 2017-2018 Ex.C5.
6. On the other hand, op no.1 has tendered affidavit of Sh. Ravi, Branch Manager as Ex. R1/A.
7. OPs no.2 and 3 did not lead any evidence despite availing various opportunities.
8. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the case file carefully.
9. The complainant is claiming insurance claim amount for the damage of his cotton crop of kharif, 2017 sown in 72 kanals of land situated in village Bhagsar, District Sirsa. During the course of arguments learned counsel for complainant has placed on file letter/ report of Deputy Director Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Department, Sirsa dated 19.10.2023 in which it is reported that the average yield of cotton crop of kharif, 2017 of village Bhagsar was 335.83 Kgs. per hectare and threshold yield of block Badaguda was 631.44 Kgs. per hectare. Since the average yield of village Bhagsar was less than from threshold yield of block as such it is proved on record that there was loss to the cotton crop of kharif, 2017 of complainant. The sum insured amount of cotton crop in 2017 was Rs.69,000/- per hectare. So as per formula given in the operational guidelines of PMFBY, the claim amount comes to Rs.1,17,580/- for the loss of cotton crop in 72 kalans of land which is equal to 3.64 hectares of land. The complainant has also claimed insurance claim amount of Rs.1,17,000/- at the rate of Rs.13,000/- per acre and as such complainant is entitled to insurance claim amount of Rs.1,17,000/- for the loss of his cotton crop of kharif, 2017 in his 72 kanals of land. The ops no.2 and 3 insurance company only are liable to pay the said claim amount to the complainant because crop of complainant was got insured by op no.1 bank through ops no.2 and 3 by paying requisite premium amount from the loan account of complainant.
10. In view of our above discussion, we allow the present complaint qua opposite parties no. 2 and 3 insurance company and direct ops no.2 and 3 to pay the insurance claim amount of Rs.1,17,000/- to the complainant within a period of 45 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order, failing which complainant will be entitled to receive the said amount of Rs.1,17,000/- from ops no.2 and 3 alongwith interest @6% per annum from the date of this order till actual realization. We also direct the ops no.2 and 3 to further pay a sum of Rs.10,000/- as composite compensation for harassment and litigation expenses to the complainant within above said stipulated period. However, complaint qua op no.1 bank stands dismissed. A copy of this order be supplied to the parties as per rules. File be consigned to the record room.
Announced. Member Member President
Dt. 21.11.2023. District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission, Sirsa.
