Complainant Kewal Masih has filed the instant complaint against the opposite parties (hereinafter referred to as O.P.) under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 with a prayer that opposite parties be directed to issue No Due Certificate and also be directed to pay Rs.50,000/- and Rs.50,000/- on account of decreased value of vehicle alongwith Rs.20,000/- as litigation expenses with interest @ 12% p.a. to him.
2. The case of the complainant in brief is that he purchased a vehicle Tata Ace Mini LCV-HT (Chhota Hathi) bearing registration No.PB-06-N-2025 of Tata Company and got the same financed from the opposite parties for loan amount of Rs.1,50,000/- on interest @ 9.27% p.a. vide agreement No.XVFPPVF00000579173 dated 5.5.2011 and opposite parties charged Rs.6496/- as processing and service charges and Rs.500/- as documents charges and Rs.1000/- as Re-Payment Charges from complainant as such he is consumer of opposite parties. He has next stated that Ist installment of loan amount was to be paid on 1.6.2011 and last installment was to be paid on 1.3.2014 and accordingly the opposite parties got signed cheques from him in advance and used to collect the installment of loan i.e. Rs.5496/- per month by presenting the cheque in bank. The amount in his bank account never remained insufficient and all the cheques presented by opposite parties were duly honoured and all the loan amount has been cleared as last installment of loan amount was received by opposite party on 21.3.2014 through cheque No.000881 amounting to Rs.5496/- and there remained no outstanding amount toward the loan taken by him. Opposite parties received Rs.1000/- illegally from him on 7.7.2014 in cash. He has next pleaded that after the clearance of all the installments it was duty of the opposite parties to issue No Due Certificate to him so that he can get cancelled the Hire Purchase agreement, but till date he is running from pillar to post for getting the same and approached many times personally to OP No.2, but of no use. Hence this complaint.
3. Upon notice, the opposite parties no.1 & 2 appeared and filed their joint written reply through their counsel by taking the preliminary objections that the complaint is not maintainable; complainant has no locus standi to file the present complaint; complainant has no cause of action to file the present complaint; the complaint is bad for non-joinder and mis-joinder of necessary parties; the complainant has not approached the Hon’ble Forum with clean hands in asking for the present relief, so he is not entitled to the relief prayed for and this Hon’ble Forum has no jurisdiction to entertain, try and decide the present complaint. As per the agreement dated 21.4.2011, the complainant has to repay the loan amount alongwith interest in 34 installments and the monthly installment was to be paid on every first day of each month by the complainant for the installments from 1.6.2011 to 1.3.2014. The complainant has converted his payment mode from PDC to NPDC in the month of December 2012. After that the complainant never maintained financial discipline in the payment of the installment to the opposite parties. At present a sum of Rs.5969/- is still payment/outstanding due as per the account statement duly maintained by the opposite parties. On merits, it was wrong and denied that a sum of Rs.5969/- was still payable/outstanding due as per the account statement duly maintained by the opposite party in due course of business which the opposite parties entitled to recover from the complainant. The complainant has failed to discharge his liability against the said loan account till date. All other averments made in the complaint have been denied and lastly the complaint has been prayed to be dismissed.
4. Complainant tendered into evidence his own affidavit Ex.C1 alongwith other documents Ex.C2 to Ex.C4 and closed the evidence.
5. Sh.Jasbir Singh authorized representative of opposite parties tendered into evidence his own affidavit Ex.OP1 alongwith other documents Ex.OP2 to Ex.OP6 and closed the evidence.
6. We observe that the complainants’ one primarily sought after singular relief comprises of ‘immediate’ issuance of the ‘No Dues Certificate’ to him in respect of his Vehicle Loan Account (since liquidated) raised with the OP financers. The OP financers throughout the proceedings have been vehemently pleading the irregular repayments by the complainant resulting into an existing outstanding of Rs.5,969/- in the impugned account. However, we find from the related A/c statement Ex.OP5 produced by the OP financers that the said penalty of Rs.5,969/- may have accrued (as alleged) but not charged in the account as yet and instead the penalty of Rs.1,000/- stood charged and also paid as claimed by the complainant. Confronted, the learned counsel for the OP financers agreed that as a gesture of good-will and being already in receipt of the principal loan amount with interest his client will issue the requisite ‘No Dues Certificate’ to the complainant ignoring the penalty charges as accrued in terms of the governing agreement.
7. In light of all the all above, we are of the considered opinion that the present complaint shall be best disposed of by directing the OP financers to issue and dispatch the requisite ‘No Dues Certificate’ to the complainant pertaining to his Vehicle Loan Account at his recorded address within 15 days of the receipt of the copy of these orders and also to hand him over a certified copy of the same against a valid receipt upon being approached by him in person, for the purpose.
8. Copy of the order be communicated to the parties free of charges. After compliance, file be consigned to records.
(Naveen Puri)
President
ANNOUNCED: (Jagdeep Kaur)
November 24, 2015 Member
*MK*
