BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, SIRSA.
Consumer Complaint no.20 of 2014
Date of Institution : 31.1.2014
Date of Decision : 31.1.2017
Ravi Jindal, aged 32 years son of Shri Nirmal Jindal, resident of Gali Dhana Katli, Nohaira Bazar, Sirsa, District Sirsa, now at 1220 HIDDEN RIDGE, APT 1083, IRVING TX 75038 (USA).
……Complainant.
Versus.
1. The Branch Manager, HDFC Bank, B-1, Vanuya Kunj, Enkay Tower, Udyog Vihar, Phase-V, Gurgaon- 122 001.
2. Shri Ashok Dighe, Officer (Grievance Redressal Cell), HDFC Bank Ltd., C. Wing, Trade World, 11th Floor, Kamla Mills Compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai- 400 013.
3. The Branch Manager, HDFC Bank, Sangwan Chowk, Sirsa.
...…Opposite parties.
Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act,1986.
Before: SHRI S.B.LOHIA…………………PRESIDENT
SH. RANBIR SINGH PANGHAL ……….. ……MEMBER.
Present: Sh. Rahul Sharma, Advocate for the complainant.
Opposite parties No.1 & 2 exparte.
Sh. Rishi Sharma, Advocate for the opposite party No.3.
ORDER
Case of complainant, in brief is that complainant holds a saving bank account No.04851140070595 with opposite party no.1. On 16.5.2013, there was balance of Rs.5,41,410.91/- in his aforesaid account. On 1.6.2013, he received a SMS on his cell phone and also received an e-mail that a sum of Rs.112.36/- has been debited in his saving account as ad-hoc statement charges. The complainant was quite surprised and astonished on receiving this message because on that day he was at USA and had not drawn any statement of account from the bank. The complainant thereafter sent an e-mail to ops on 4.6.2013 in this regard. In response to e-mail, he was given a reply that some person had moved application for seeking statement of account of his account and that statement of account has been supplied to such applicant, but did not disclose the identity of said person. The complainant felt further shocked because the bank had breached his privacy by disclosing his account status to some unknown person. The above act and conduct on the part of ops is violation of guidelines and norms settled by the Reserve Bank of India because the bank cannot disclose the status of any account holder to any third party without the prior permission of account holder. The complainant also contacted the op no.2 through e-mail but was not given any satisfactory reply. It is quite possible that any third person on the strength of some fake documents can withdraw amounts from his account. The complainant is undergoing acute mental stress, agony etc. As such, he is entitled to compensation of Rs.4,50,000/- from the ops. The complainant approached the ops and requested them to redress his grievance and also to pay the amount of compensation but they did not pay any heed to the same. Ultimately, he got served a legal notice upon ops on 31.10.2013, but of no use. Hence, this complaint.
2. On notice, opposite parties No.1 & 2 initially appeared and sought various opportunities for filing written statement but ultimately none appeared on their behalf and were proceeded against exparte.
3. Opposite party no.3 appeared and filed written statement wherein it has been submitted that complainant has made complaints to the grievance redressal cell, HDFC Bank Ltd. and grievance cell had thoroughly made the enquiry into the facts of the complaint and it was made clear that the statement of account was issued on the basis of written request dated 28.5.2013 which was duly signed by the complainant and was having complete address of the complainant. The signatures were verified by the personal banker of the branch at Sirsa and after verifying the signatures, the statement of account was handed over. The complainant was accordingly informed through email. It was advised that in case the complainant is not satisfied with the resolution, he may write to the Principal Nodal Office of HDFC Bank Ltd., Mumbai. So the bank has responded to the grievance of complainant immediately and there is no deficiency on the part of op. As per the practice of the bank and as per the service being afforded by the bank to the customers the complainant was sent SMS and also e-mail regarding debiting of Rs.112.36/- on account of issuance of statement. It is not necessary that the customers has to be present in person to get the statement of account and it can be issued to person holding the application on behalf of account holder after verifying the signatures. There is no breach of privacy. Remaining contents of the complaint have been denied.
4. The complainant has tendered his affidavit Ex.C1/A, copy of legal notice Ex.C1/B, copy of postal receipt Ex.C1/C, copies of e-mails Ex.C1/D to Ex.C1/H, copy of statement of account Ex.C1/I and copies of e-mails Ex.,C1/J and Ex.C1/K. On the other hand, op no.3 tendered affidavit of Sh. Surjeet Kumar, Branch Manager Ex.RW1/A and copy of statement of account Ex.R1.
5. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the case file carefully.
6. The complainant received message/ e-mail regarding debiting of amount of Rs.112.36/- on 1.6.2013 on account of adhoc statement charges. According to the op no.3, the statement of account was issued on the basis of written request dated 28.5.2013 which was duly signed by complainant and was having complete address of complainant. The signatures were verified by the personal banker of the branch at Sirsa and only thereafter the statement of account was given. The complainant has not proved by reliable and cogent evidence that the said application does not bears his signatures. The complainant has not brought any instance of withdrawal of any amount by some unknown person from his account till today. The allegations of the complainant are based on presumption and apprehension only. Thus, we find no merit in the present complaint and same is hereby dismissed but with no order as to costs. A copy of this order be supplied to the parties free of costs. File be consigned to the record after due compliance.
Announced. President,
Dated: 31.1.2017. District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Forum, Sirsa.
Member.
