Hon'ble Mr. Subhas Ch. Guin, Member.
The complaint petition in a nutshell is that the Complainant, Mr. Narayan Sah opened a Savings Bank Account having No.3351939798, on 25.06.14 with Central Bank of India, B.S. Road, P.S. Kotwali, P.O & Dist- Cooch Behar (OP) in which his gas subsidy is credited. But the Complainant could not operate the said account for which the Complainant went to the bank to make the account free from hold mode. On query it was learnt by the Complainant that the account was opened by the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC in short). So without written consent of the NSDC the account remains in hold mode. Subsequently the Complainant sent RTI before the OP on 29.04.19 and the OP replied the same on 14.05.19 which read as “please be informed that your account No. 3351939798 was opened through NSDC and as per mandate given by the customer in the account opening form hold was marked in the account for any dues”. On receiving the reply of RTI from the OP, the Complainant sent a letter to the Officer in charge of NSDC, New Delhi regarding the matter. Public Grievance Cell of NSDC replied the Complainant stating that they had no role either in opening account in the Central Bank of India or in deactivation of the account. After receiving reply from the NSDC, the Complainant again approached the OP bank to make the account hold free but the OP bank denied the same. On 30.07.19 the Complainant tried to lodge a written complaint with the OP for activation of withdrawal facility but the OP did not receive the same. Ultimately the Complainant sent the same complaint through registered post to the OP bank and it was received by them but they did not activate the withdrawal facility. As consequence the Complainant could not withdraw money from his own account. These activities of the OP is deficiency in service which causes mental pain and agony as claimed by the Complainant. Finding no other alternative the Complainant filed this instant case before the Commission for redressal of his grievances. He prayed for a direction to the OP to activate withdrawal facility in the said account and to pay a sum of Rs.1 Lakh for deficiency in service as well as mental agony and Rs.20,000/- for litigation cost.
Summon was served upon the OP. The OP contested the case by filing written version, evidence on affidavit and written argument. The Op in its written version denied each and every allegation brought against him. He stated the fact that the Complainant Mr. Narayan Sah, S/O- Asarfi Lal Sah opened a zero balance account with them having account No. 3351939798 after receiving the application of the Complainant from the training institute (Edu Bridge Learning Pvt. Ltd.) at G-Tec Education under NSDC where he had been enrolled for a training programme of Data Entry Operator under STAR scheme. The Op bank opened the said account of the Complainant where it was clearly mentioned that the account would be opened by making hold of a specific amount for further transfer to the account of the training institute as cost of training programme after receiving the fund from NSDC. That as per circular and given mandate from the Complainant and his training institute, the OP bank marked a hold of Rs.6,500/- in the account of the Complainant for further transfer of the fund. The Ld. Advocate for the OP also argued that it was clearly mentioned in their circular that this type of account can only be used as normal savings bank account once the fund transfer has been completed. In no circumstances the Op in allowed to manually unmarked the hold to make the account normal or allowed operation in the said account. No fund was credited to the bank account of the Complainant from NSDC as the cost of training course. So the fund transfer had not been completed yet. Therefore the said account cannot be treated as normal savings bank account. As the account was linked to Aadhar card of the Complainant, the LPG subsidy of the Complainant is credited to the account but the Complainant is unable to withdraw the same amount as there is a hold of Rs.6,500/- in his account. The account cannot be treated as normal savings bank account until the transfer of the fund is completed. So unmarking of the hold or enable the OP to allow the Complainant to do normal transaction in his account is not feasible as this is a specific type of account opened for a specific purpose not for general purpose.
Perused the case record and documents filed by the Complainant and the O.P. Heard the argument advanced by the both parties at length. Therefore, the following points are required to be discussed to reach a conclusion about this instant case.
Points for Consideration
- Is there any deficiency in service on the part of the O.P ?
- Is the Complainant entitled to get any relief ?
Both the points are taken up together for convenience and brevity of discussion as they are interlinked with each other. The Complainant opened a Savings Bank Account having No.3351939798 with the O.P Bank (Annexure-A) through which LPG subsidy of the Complainant is credited. Being not satisfied with answer about the hold mode of the account from the O.P verbally, the Complainant applied to the O.P under RTI which the O.P replied stating that the said account was opened through NSDC and as per mandate given by the Complainant in the account opening form hold was marked in the account for any dues (Annexure-B & C). Thereafter the Complainant sent a letter to the Office-in-charge, NSDC, New Delhi (Annexure-D) regarding activation of withdrawal facility which is kept under hold mode. On 26.09.2019 the head of public grievance NSDC replied to that effect that they had no role in account opening nor in activation of withdrawal facility (Annexure-E). On receipt of this letter, The Complainant wanted to file a written complaint before the O.P but the O.P did not receive the same. Ultimately, the Complainant had to send the same through registered post (Annexure-F) to the O.P which the O.P received but till date the O.P did not activate the withdrawal facility. As a consequence, the Complainant could not withdraw the money from the said account as LPG subsidy was being credited to that account.
On the other hand, the Ld. Advocate for the O.P argued that the hold in the said account was marked as per mandate given by the Complainant in the account opening form which was due to fund collected from NSDC which later would be transferred to the account of the training institute for a training course which the Complainant was supposed to undergo. Hold in the account would exist till the fund transfer was completed. As the fund transfer had not been done, the hold in the account was still valid. The Ld. Advocate for the O.P also submitted a circular of the Central Bank of India which states rules and regulations of Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Yojana (PMKVY) not of the STAR scheme. But the Complainant opened the said account under the STAR scheme. The O.P did not file any document relating to the STAR scheme nor did he file any document bearing the signature of the Complainant where there is mandate of operating the account as stated by the Ld. Advocate of the O.P. So, the defence plea for marking the Savings Bank Account of the Complainant with hold mode does not hold good here. Therefore, the Commission is of the view that there is deficiency in service on the part of the O.P which causes mental pain and agony to the Complainant. Thus, the Complainant is entitled to get relief for his grievances.
In the result, the complaint case succeeds on contest with cost.
Hence, it is
Ordered
That the Complaint Case No. CC/102/2019 be and the same is allowed on contest with cost.
The O.P is directed to activate the withdrawal facility (i.e. clear the hold mode) of the Complainant’s account at once. The O.P is also directed to pay a sum of Rs.30,000/- to the Complainant for deficiency in service and mental pain and agony and Rs.10,000/- for cost of litigation. A total sum of Rs.40,000/- is payable within one month from the date of passing this order failing which an interest @ 6% P.A. shall be imposed on the awarded sum till its realisation.
Let a plain copy of this Order be supplied to the concerned party by hand/by Registered Post with A/D forthwith, free of cost, for information & necessary action as per rule.
The copy of the Final Order is also available in the official website: www.confonet.nic.in.
Dictated and corrected by me.
