| ORDER | DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, BATHINDA
C.C. No. 59 of 12-02-2013 Decided on 13-06-2013
Harpreet Singh aged about 35 years S/o Sh. Ajmet Singh, R/o H. No. 1339, Gali No. 1, Nai Basti, Bathinda. …. Complainant
Versus
DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Ltd., through its Manager near Bus Stand, Bathinda. Naveen Kumar, sales advisor DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Ltd., House No. 19641, Ward No. 6, Bathinda.
.......Opposite parties
Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
QUORUM Smt. Vikramjit Kaur Soni, President Sh. Amarjeet Paul, Member Smt.Sukhwinder Kaur, Member For the Complainant : Sh. Sanjay Goyal, counsel for the complainant. For the opposite parties : Sh. N K Batta, counsel for the opposite party No. 1 Opposite party No. 2 exparte.
O R D E R
VIKRAMJIT KAUR SONI, PRESIDENT
The instant complaint has been filed by the complainant under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as amended upto date (here-in-after referred to as an 'Act'). Briefly stated the case of the complainant is that opposite party No. 1 through opposite party No. 2 approached the complainant for selling life insurance plan and stated that he has to make payment of Rs. 99,900/- at once and he will be insured for Rs. 9,99,000/- and in case he want to get the refund, then he will be given Rs. 99,000/- alongwith interest and no charges shall be deducted. Accordingly, the complainant agreed to purchase the insurance policy bearing No. 000165961, (as conveyed on cell phone) and made payment of Rs. 99,000/- in the month of August, 2012. No receipt of payment was issued to the complainant and only sms was sent by opposite party No. 1 regarding receiving of payment. The complainant alleged that neither any cover note nor any separate terms and conditions of the insurance policy was supplied to him. After one month, the complainant approached the opposite parties to inquire about the policy document and he was assured that it shall be soon delivered to him but no document was supplied by the opposite parties despite repeated requests. The complainant was telephonically told by the opposite parties, a few days back that he has to pay Rs. 99000/- each year for 16 years and he immediately told the opposite parties that he never purchased any such policy. The complainant further alleged that he repeatedly requested the opposite parties to refund Rs. 99,000/- paid by him, alongwith interest, but they refused to do so. Hence, the complainant has filed the present complaint seeking directions to the opposite parties to refund him Rs. 90,000/- alongwith interest and pay him compensation and cost. The opposite party No. 1 filed its separate written statement and pleaded that complainant after completely understanding the terms and conditions of the product DPLI Wealth Premier Plant, had voluntarily applied for an insurance policy vide proposal form bearing No. AF00022889 dated 21-08-2012. In the proposal form, complainant gave all relevant details and information in the prescribed form for an assured sum amounting to Rs. 9,99,000/- for which a premium amounting to Rs. 99,900/- was proposed to be paid on the annual basis for a term of 5 years. In the instant case, the policy was issued in the month of August, 2012 and same was dispatched on 1-9-2012 to the complainant vide speedpost AWB No. ED259971125IN at the address mentioned on the application form. The opposite party No. 1 has further pleaded that in order to proceed further with the application form, the complainant himself provided with the requisite KYC and relevant documents which itself speaks the fact that complainant himself after duly understanding terms and condition opted for the policy and applied for the insurance policy in question. The opposite party No. 1 on 28-09-2012, as per its procedure, made a welcome call to the complainant to confirm the status of the policy receipt and on the said call, representative of the opposite parties informed the complainant about policy name, SA premium amount, next due date, duration. Despite the receipt of the said information, the complainant neither raised any issue nor any query. The opposite party No. 1 through this complaint first time received a complaint from the complainant wherein he has alleged all the false and frivolous allegation. Registered notice of the complaint was sent to the opposite party No. 2, but despite service of notice, none appeared on his behalf, as such exparte proceedings were taken against opposite party No. 2. Parties have led their evidence in support of their respective pleadings. Arguments heard. Record alongwith written submissions submitted by the parties perused. The allegation of the complainant is that at the time of selling the insurance policy in question, the opposite parties conveyed that he has to pay the premium of Rs. 99,000/- at once, but later on, he received the telephone call from the opposite parties that infact he has to pay Rs. 99,000/- each year for 16 years. No cover note or policy terms and conditions were sent to the complainant. On the other hand, the submission of the opposite party No. 1 is that the complainant got the insurance policy with his own free will and submitted proposal form. The policy was duly despatched to the complainant on 1-9-2012 and he did not make any objection within free look period of 15 days. The complainant has deposited only one premium. The opposite party No. 1 performed his part of contract and covered the risk of the life of the complainant from the date of commencement of policy. A perusal of page 7 attached with proposal form OP-1/2 reveals that the policy in question alongwith documents have been despatched to the complainant on 1-1-2012 vide AWBNo. ED259971125IN and even the weight of documents has been given as 0.120. Page 13 & 14 of OP-1/2 has been duly signed by the complainant wherein policy term is mentioned as 15 years and premium payment term as 5 years. Terms and conditions mentioned at page 14 of said document has also been duly signed by the complainant on 21-8-2012 wherein clause No. 8 is mentioned as under :- “8. The policy acquires a surrender value from the first policy year. However, surrender value will be payable only after completion of 5 years of lock in period. The illustrated surrender value is not guarantee.” Keeping in view the aforesaid evidence, this Forum is of the considered opinion that the complainant has not returned the policy in question within free look period as offered to him vide welcome letter page 8 of OP01/2, and as per clause 8 of aforesaid terms and conditions, now the complaint in question is premature at this stage. Hence, this complaint being not maintainable at this stage, is hereby dismissed without any order as to costs. A copy of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of cost and the file be consigned to record. Pronounced in open Forum 13-06-2013 (Vikramjit Kaur Soni) President (Amarjeet Paul) Member (Sukhwinder Kaur) Member
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