Before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Rohtak.
Complaint No. : 552
Instituted on : 30.10.2019
Decided on : 16.07.2024
Anil Kumar age-38 yrs. s/o Sh. Mahabir Singh R/o H.No. 583/34, Janta Colony Rohtak.
……….………..Complainant.
Vs.
- CPP Assistance Services Pvt. Ltd. Ground Floor, Wing A, Golf View Corporate Tower-A, Golf Course Road, Sector,42, Gurugram-122002(Haryana) through its directors, Authorized Persons.
- ICICI Bank Ltd. Main Branch, Ashoka Plaza, Delhi Road, Rohtak-124001(Haryana) through its Directors.
- HDFC Ergo General Insurance Company Ltd. 1st Floor, 165/166, Backbay Reclamation, H.T.Parekh Marg, Church Gate, Mumbai-400020(Maharastra). Through its Director.
..…….……….Opposite parties.
COMPLAINT U/S 12 OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT,1986.
BEFORE: SH.NAGENDER SINGH KADIAN, PRESIDENT.
DR. TRIPTI PANNU, MEMBER.
DR.VIJENDER SINGH, MEMBER.
Present: Sh. Digvijay Jakhar, Advocate for complainant.
Sh. Arvind Singla, Advocate for opposite party no. 1.
Sh. Naveen Chaudhary, Advocate for opposite party no. 2.
Sh. Gulshan Chawla, Advocate for opposite party no. 3.
ORDER
NAGENDER SINGH KADIAN PRESIDENT:
1. Brief facts of the case as per complainant arethat the opposite party no. 1 is a private limited company engaged in the business of providing various services including card protection insurance services(such as debit, credit cards, and others insurance services). Opposite party no. 2 is a leading private sector Bank in India and it provides all banking services. The opposite party no. 3 is a leading private sector insurance company, which provides various types of insurance and opposite party no. 1 also purchased these group insurance policies from opposite party no. 3. It is further submitted that complainant is a saving account holder of opposite party No 2 since last 13 years having account number 016801001523. Heis also having debit card and credit card of the said account.The complainant obtained a policy of opposite party No. 1 from 2010 and in 2014 he added on (Platinum Plan) for his family members including him in this policy vide membership id-IA0744192 with sum assured of Rs.3,00,000/-.From last 11-12 years, the complainant had been using opposite party No. 2 multi-features debit/credit cards and opposite party No. 2 has also provided a free card protection plan to the complainant for sum assured of Rs.1,00,000/- on account of his debit card and Rs.1,00,000/- on account of his credit card.Opposite party No. 2 provided all these plans through opposite party No.1.That complainant is holding three policies from opposite party No.1 with different membership numbers as allotted by opposite party No. 1 and 2, the details of them are as follows:-
(i) MEMBERSHIP-ID IA0744192 SUM ASSURED Rs.3,00,000/-
(ii)MEMBERSHIP-ID 1A4417152 SUM ASSURED Rs.1,00,000/-
(iii)MEMBERSHIP-ID 1A7404188 SUM ASSURED Rs.1,00,000/-
On 17.02.2019 night, complainant lost/got theft his ICICI Bank debit card at KUMBH MELA premises, Allahabad with his mobile, identity card, Rs 2,000/- cash in the back cover of his mobile phone. The complainant informed to the police deputed at Mela premises and police also registered a DD entry having No. GD1X08, dated 18.02.2019.On 18.02.2019 morning, complainant made a call to customer care of opposite party No 2 and they asked to call from registered number or dial 16 digit card number but unfortunately the complainant couldn't have any of it at that time. Thereafter the complainant informed the said incident to the customer care number of the opposite party No. 1 and executive took details of complainant's ICICI Bank account number and branch address etc. and assured him that they would block the said card immediately.That on the same day, the complainant went to ICICI Bank, LucknowBranch (Teli Bagh branch sale id 1259), and gave a written intimation regarding theft of his card. The branch manager accepted the complainant's request for blocking the card, and told him that his card had already been blocked and he also gave it in written too.But at the same time, the branch manager told that Rs.3,80,000/- weredebited from his account in total nineteen equaltransactions, i.e. Rs 20,000/- each.The branch manager telephonically lodged a complaint with Bank Fraud Detection Department regarding this incident. The fraud detection department executive took some information from the complainant and lodged above mentioned complaint and also suggested/advised the complainant to submit a transaction dispute form in nearby ICICI Bank branch along with a written complaint. Thereafter, the Detection Department assured the complainant to complete the investigation, to providehim CCTV footage &to credit the lost amount within 30 days. The complainant also informed to opposite party No. 1 regarding the said incident telephonically.Opposite party No.1 assured the complainant that after receiving all necessary documents with claim form, the claim will be decided within 28 days.On 20.02.2019 the complainant submitted a TransactionDispute Form with FIR copy, bank statement, id proof and written complainant in ICICI Bank, sector 15, Gurugram. The complainant also gave a written request for providing CCTV footage to opposite party No.2 regarding the said incident but after several emails and telephonic conversations, opposite party No.2 denied through email dated 15.04.2019 regarding the reversal of the said amount by saying that "Investigation done by team concerned and complaint closed by 29 March 2019 stating that we are unable to reverse Rs.3,80,000/- on debit card xxxxxxxxx0096 as pin verified cash withdrawal transaction are not eligible for reimbursement under lost card policy".Opposite party No.2 on 19.04.2019 also gave an information sheet/letter to the complainant that CCTVfootage was not available. After that complainant fileda claim before opposite party No.1.After several calls and efforts, opposite party No. 1 sent claim form on dated 20.03.2019 after 31 days of claim intimation. Thereafter complainant submitted/sent all documents and information as asked by opposite party No.1 along with bank investigation reports and reversal denial letter which were received by opposite party No. 1 on 23.04.2019. After 10 days opposite party executive demanded a computerized FIR copy, which was recorded at Allahabad after the said incident. Thereafter, the complainant approached to Allahabad police and registered a FIR vide FIR No. 0201 dated 08.05.0219 U/s 379/419/420 and sent a copy of the said FIR to opposite party No.1 on 09.05.2019 and also sent bank statement of 3-4 month after the incident as demanded by them. Thereafter the complainant continuously, approached opposite party No.1 through emails and phone calls but any heed was not paid to his requests. Complainant served a legal notice dated 20.08.2019 to opposite party No. 1 for demanding the amount of Rs.3,80,000 but the opposite party no.1 miserably failed to pay even a single penny to the complainant.As such, the act and conduct of the opposite parties is illegal and amounts to deficiency in service. Hence this complaint and it is prayed that opposite parties may kindly be directed toreimburse the claim of Rs.3,80,000/- with 18% interest from the date of incident i.e. 18.02.2019. It is further prayed that opposite parties may kindly be directed to pay Rs.25,000/- as compensation and Rs.10,000/- as litigation expenses to the complainant.
2. After registration of complaint, noticeswere issued to the opposite parties. Opposite party No. 1 appeared and submitted its reply thatthe complainant applied for membership of the answering opposite party and they granted membership to the complainant vide membership no. IA0744192 and intimated all the facilities to the complainant vide Welcome letter dated 09.03.2019. The complainant was complimentarily covered under Group Insurance Policy issued by the opposite party No. 3.The opposite party No.1 did not issue any insurance policy. They granted membership upon receipt of fees and got insurance provided by opposite party no. 3. No Back cover of a mobile phone can accommodate a mobile phone, an identity card, four notes of Rs.500/- each and even 1 Debit Card.It is further submitted that upon receiving information, the opposite party got cards of the complainant blocked. It was never incumbent upon the opposite party to assess, settle, or repudiate claim of the complainant. The alleged withdrawals could not have been made without knowledge of the secret pin. The complainant was well aware of the fact that the opposite party is not an insurance company. All documents submitted by the complainant were forwarded to the opposite party no. 3 by them.All the other contents of the complaint were stated to be wrong and denied and answering opposite party prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
3. Opposite party No. 2 appeared and filed its reply. It is denied that the Fraud Detection Department assured the complainant that the investigation would be completed in 30 days or that the CCTV footage from ATM would be sent to complainant or that the lost amount will be credited within 30 days. It is also denied that any commitment was made by answering opposite party for providing CCTV footage. No FIR was submitted with the opposite party No.2.It is submitted that the complainant made a complaint to customer care on 18.02.2019 stating that his debit card was lost at Allahabad, consequently a request bearing no. SR595893222 was registered on the same day and his debit card bearing no. 4096420168000096 was also blocked on the same day. Complainant also disputed 19 ATM cash withdrawal transactions, each amounting to Rs.20,000/- totaling to Rs.3,80,000/- done on 17.02.2018 and 18.02.2018(as per complaint the alleged dates are 17.02.2019 and 18.02.2019).During investigation, it was found that all the aforesaid cash withdrawal transactions were PIN verified and hence, same were found to be not eligible for refunds. It is further submitted that SMS for all the transactions were delivered on registered mobile number but since complainant’s phone was also stolen, he could not check the SMS sent for the disputed transactions. This problem had occurred due to the fault and negligence of the complainant himself. The insurance is a contract between the insured and the insurer i.e. between the complainant and opposite party no. 1 & 3 with which the answering opposite party has no role to play. All the other contents of the complaint were stated to be wrong and denied and answering opposite party prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
4. Opposite party no. 3 appeared and filed its reply submitting thereinthatopposite party issued a “Card Sure Package Policy” to the insured i.e. CPP having policyno.2999201882226001000 subject to the terms and conditions of the insurance policy, under which the complainant was insured as a beneficiary. It is further submitted that complainant made a complaint for loss regarding the incident on dated 17-18.09.2019 and on the basis of information provided the claim has been perused and then repudiated. It is further submitted that it is the process of every bank ATM card that until and unless the ATM pin is not known, one cannot perform transaction. Further one can make only three attempts if even the password is not known, and thereafter the card automatically gets blocked. Thus, in this case also until and unless the ATM pin would not have been revealed to the other person, one cannot make any transaction. Therefore the claim of the complainant was repudiated. All the other contents of the complaint were stated to be wrong and denied and opposite party prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
5. Ld. Counsel for the complainant in his evidence has tendered affidavit Ex. CW-1/A, documents Ex. C1 to Ex. C14 and closed the evidence vide separate statement dated 24.11.2021. Ld. Counsel for complainant also tendered documents Ex.C15 to Ex.C18 in his additional evidence and closed the same on 05.12.2022. On the other hand, ld. Counsel for the opposite party No.1 tendered affidavit Ex. RW1/A, documents Ex. R1/1 in his evidence and closed his evidence vide his separate statement dated 08.09.2022. Ld. Counsel for opposite party no. 2 tendered affidavit Ex.RW2/A, documents Ex.RW2/1 and closed his evidence vide his separate statement dated 06.07.2022.Ld. Counsel for opposite party no. 3 tendered affidavit Ex.RW3/A and documents Ex.R3/1 to Ex.R3/2 and closed his evidence vide his separate statement dated 08.09.2022.
6. We have heard learned counsel for the complainant and have gone through material aspects of the case very carefully. We have also gone through the written arguments filed by ld. counsel for the complainant.
7. In the present case the claim of the complainant has been repudiated by the insurance company vide its letter Ex.R3/2 on the ground that as per the policy General conditions(18) reasonable Care: “Insured takereasonable care and took precautions to prevent accidents, loss or damage and to act prudently to minimize any claim arising out of an insured peril”. Since the losses claimed were not covered as per above policy terms & conditions, the claim was treated as “No Claim”. As per our opinion the complainant had taken all the reasonable steps to take care of his card, cash and mobile phone. As per copy of FIR placed on record as Ex.C9, it is submitted that : “On 17/18.02.2019 due to heavy rush he put his ICICI Bank ATM Card, Identity Card and Rs.2000/- in the back cover of his mobile phone instead of his wallet”. Meaning thereby he kept all these things with due care in his mobile phone. He has not left the mobile, ATM card orcash etc. abandoned anywhere but the same has been stolen from his pocket by some unknown person in a crowded place. Moreover just after the incident, he took immediate action to recover his mobile, ATM card and cash. He immediately informed the police authorities in writing to SHO P.S. Shastri Setu, Kumbh Mela Prayag Raj, U.P.. Copy of the same is placed on record as Ex.C1. He further informed the incident to Branch Manager Teli Bagh Branch of opposite party No.2 in writing regarding the loss of card and requested them to block the card. The copy of the same is also placed on record as Ex.C2. Moreover the complainant also informed Fraud Detection Department of the respondent no.2 after the incident in writing and the copy of the same is also placed on record as Ex.C3. Moreover he called many times on the toll free number of the respondent no.2 regarding the incident but the complaint could not be registered due to the automatic computerized reply to register the call through registered mobile number. But as the mobile of the complainant was lost/misplaced so he was not able to register the call through his registered mobile number. But he made many efforts to lodge the complaint through every mode i.e. telephonically to the toll free number, to police as well as to inform the Fraud Detection Department. We have also perused the document Ex.C13. He gave information repeatedly to the CPP India regarding the accident but reply of the same was given after 14days . Moreover the DDR was registered regarding this accident,which has been converted into FIR on dated 08.05.2018 after observing the contents of DDR and the FIR was registered under section 379, 419 and 420 IPC. The complainant demanded the CCTV footage from the respondentno.2 to initiate the further proceeding but the same was not provided to the complainant despite his repeated requests. Hence the complainant took all the reasonable steps to protect/safeguards all his belongings(mobile phone, ATM card and cash) before the incident and also made sincere efforts to recover the same. But the same could not be recovered. Hence the claim of the complainant has been wrongly repudiated by the opposite parties. As per the reply filed by opposite party no.3, opposite party issued a “Card Sure Package Policy” to the insured i.e. CPP having policy no.2999201882226001000 subject to the terms and conditions of the insurance policy, under which the complainant was insured as a beneficiary. Hence the complainant is entitled for the amount of loss i.e. Rs.380000/- and opposite party No.1 & 3 jointly and severally are liable to pay the same.
8. In view of the facts and circumstances of the case, we hereby allow the complaint and direct the opposite party No. 1 & 3 jointly and severally to pay the amount of Rs.380000/-(Rupees three lac eighty thousand only) alongwith interest @ 9% p.a. from the date of filing the present complaint i.e. 30.10.2019 till its realization. Opposite party No.1 & 3 are further directed to pay Rs.5000/-(Rupees five thousand only) as compensation on account of deficiency in service and Rs.5000/-(Rupees five thousand only) as litigation expenses to the complainant. Order shall be complied within one month from the date of decision
9. Copy of this order be supplied to both the parties free of costs. File be consigned to the record room after due compliance.
Announced in open court:
16.07.2024.
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Nagender Singh Kadian, President
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Tripti Pannu, Member.
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Vijender Singh, Member
