Haryana

Yamunanagar

CC/29/2014

Prem Sagar Garg s/o sh.Rameshwar Dass Garg, 67 years - Complainant(s)

Versus

HDFC Life Insurance Company limited - Opp.Party(s)

P.K.Punia

22 Apr 2016

ORDER

BEFORE THE PRESIDENT DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, YAMUNA NAGAR AT JAGADHRI.

                                                                                           Complaint No.29 of 2014.

                                                                                           Date of institution: 15.01.2014.

                                                                                           Date of decision:22.04.2016

Prem Sagar Garg aged about 67 years son of Sh. Rameshwar Dass Garg, 7 KM Stone, Chhachhrauli Road, V.P.O. Udhamgarh, Jagadhri 135003, District Yamuna Nagar.

                                                                                                            …Complainant.

                                    Versus

1. H.D.F.C Life Insurance Company Limited, 11^th & 13^th Floor Lodha Execells, Appolo Mill Compound, MM Joshi Marg, Mahalaxmi, Mumbai-400011.
2. The Branch Manager, HDFC Life Insurance Company limited, Near Fountain Chowk, Yamuna Nagar-135001.
3. The Branch Manager, H.D.F.C. Bank Limited, Near Nirankari Bhawan, Jagadhri Road, Yamuna Nagar

 

                                                                                                            …Respondents.

BEFORE:         SH. ASHOK KUMAR GARG, PRESIDENT.

                        SH. S.C.SHARMA, MEMBER.

 

Present: Sh.  Pawan Kumar Punia, Advocate, counsel for complainant.

              Sh. Atul Pandey, Advocate, counsel for respondent  No.1 & 2.

              Sh. K.K.Gupta, Advocate, counsel for respondent No.3.

 

ORDER

 

1.                     Complainant  Prem Sagar Garg has filed the present complaint under section 12 of the Consumer Protection 1986 praying therein that the respondents  No.1 & 2 (hereinafter referred as OPs) be directed to pay the interest @ 24% per annum from the date of payment of premium till the date of refund and further to pay Rs. 1,00,000/- as compensation for mental agony and harassment as well as litigation expenses to the tune of Rs. 20,000/-.

2.                     Brief facts of the present complaint, as alleged by the complainant, are that in the month of July 2011, he submitted a proposal to OP No.1 through OP No. 3 for issue of unit linked single premium insurance policy of Rs. 2,00,000/- in the name of his daughter Ms. Divya Sipani wife of Mr. Vaibhav Sipani and paid the first premium of Rs. 2,00,000/- vide cheque No. 024443 dated 16.7.2011 as proposer and his daughter Ms. Divya Sipani as insurer. The OPs No.1 & 2 illegally delivered the policy No.14499564 dated 20.7.2011 to Ms. Divya Sipani instead of the complainant, as it was the complainant who proposed and financed the abovesaid policy and he was only aware of the terms and conditions of the policy. It has been further mentioned that instead of single premium policy, a multi premium policy of 10 years duration for a total premium of Rs. 20,00,000/- by tempering the proposal forms and the signatures of the complainant Prem Sagar Garg, was issued by Op No.1. In the month of July/August 2013, the OPs insurance company approached Ms. Divya Sipani for paying the renewal premium and on secrutiny of the policy documents and proposal form the fraud regarding change in the terms and tempering the signatures of complainant on proposal form, were noticed and accordingly the complainant and his daughter vide letter dated 4.10.2012, 27.11.2011 approached the OPs for investigation of the fraud, cancellation of the policy, refund of the said premium alongwith upto date interest @ 24%  per annum.  After due inquiry and investigation, the OPs insurance company has cancelled the policy and refunded the premium of Rs. 2,00,000/- on 27.4.2013 but the Ops did not pay the interest from the date of payment to till the date of refund. The said cheque of Rs. 2,00,000/- was accepted by him under protest without prejudice to their right for claiming interest as asked vide their letter dated 27.11.2012. From the above sequence of events, the Ops have cheated the complainant and collected Rs. 2,00,000/- on the basis of fraud, issued an instrument in contravention of the proposal form by changing the terms and features and applied ULIP Policy by tempering the signatures of the complainant which is a serious offence punishable under section 420 IPC.  Finding no other alternative, the complainant got served a registered AD legal notice dated 17.7.2013 to the OPs which was duly received by the OPs but instead of complying with the notice has sent an evasive reply, which shows the malafide intention of the OPs. Hence, this complaint.

3.                     Upon notice, OPs appeared and filed its written statement separately. OPs No.1 & 2 filed its written statement by taking some preliminary objections such as complainant has not approached this forum with clean hands and has not disclosed the true, correct and complete fact of the matter as they have actually transpired, this forum has no jurisdiction to entertain the present complaint on the grounds that no case of deficiency in services has been made out by the complainant against the OPs, the present complaint is not maintainable as true beneficiary in such case is Ms. Divya Sipani (Policy holder) and she never raised any objections and admitted the cancellation of said policy and Ops paid the amount on requisition of said policy holder. The complainant does not fall within the definition of Consumer. The present complaint is not maintainable as policy holder requested for cancellation of the said policy and same was accepted by OP and amount of premium is duly paid by OPs vide cheque No. 315611 dated 18.4.2013 and it duly communicated to policy holder that initial deposit paid at the time of submitting the proposal of said policy is interest free deposit and therefore does not accrue any interest. As policy holder never objected about receiving of said amount and hence, present complaint is liable to be dismissed on account of absence of policy holder concerned. The present complaint is filed for unlawful financial gain from the OPs at the cost of its own fault. The complainant never continued his policy in agreed manner and violated the terms and conditions of company and rules of IRDA, now seeking unjustified demands by filing such type of complaint. On merit reiterated the stand taken in the preliminary objections and prayed for dismissal of complaint.

4.                     OP No.3 filed its written statement by taking some preliminary objections such as complaint is not maintainable, no locus standi, complainant has concealed the true and material facts from this Forum and there is no relationship of consumer and supplier between the complainant and OP No.3 and on merit it has been submitted that all the documents related to said policy were sent by Op No.2 being sourcing agency to OP No.1 & 2, thereafter the OP No.3 has no relevancy with the said policy and the same is relevant between the complainant and OP No.1 &2. As such, there is no deficiency in service on the part of OP No.3 and prayed for dismissal of complaint.

 5.                    To prove the case, counsel for the complainant tendered into evidence affidavit of complainant as Annexure CW/A and documents such as photo copy of proposal acceptance letter dated 21.7.2011 alongwith proposal form as Annexure C-1, Photo copy of registered AD legal notice dated 17.7.2013 as Annexure C-2, Photo copy of reply of legal notice dated 24.7.2013 as Annexure C-3, Photo copy of specimen Signature Format as Annexure C-4, Photo copy of letter dated 20.9.2011 as Annexure C-5, Photo copy of letter dated 4.10.2012 as Annexure C-6, Photo copy of letter dated 19.10.2012 as Annexure C-7, Photo copy of letter of acknowledgement policy No. 14499564 as Annexure C-8,Photo copy of letter dated 01.02.2013 as Annexure C-9, Photo copy of letter dated 22.02.2013 as Annexure C-10, Photo copy of receipt of delivery proof of DD as Annexure C-11, Photo copy of letter dated 02.05.2013 as Annexure C-12,  Photo copy of letter dated 18.6.2013 as Annexure C-13, Photo copy of letter of acknowledgement policy No. 14499564 as Annexure C-14, Photo copy of letter dated  3.7.2013 request for interest as Annexure C-15, Photo copy of letter dated 3.8.2013 complaint against HDFC Standard Life Ins. Co. as Annexure C-16, , Photo copy of letter dated 5.8.2013 of acknowledgement as Annexure C-17 and closed the evidence on behalf of complainant.

6.                     On the other hand, counsel for the OPs No.1& 2 tendered into evidence documents such as Photo copy of Proposal Form as Annexure R-1, Photo copy of proposal details as Annexure R-2, Photo copy of proposal acceptance letter as Annexure R-3, Photo copy of proof of delivery as Annexure R-4, Photo copy of apprehension letter dated 19.10.2012 as Annexure R-5, Photo copy of cancellation request dated 18.12.2012 as Annexure R-6, Photo copy of apprehension letter dated 22.02.2013 as Annexure R-7, Photo copy of request for interest on initial premium as Annexure R-8, Photo copy of consultant confidential report as Annexure R-9, Photo copy of specimen signature format as Annexure R-10 and closed the evidence on behalf of OPs No.1 & 2.

7.                     Counsel for the OP No.3 tendered into evidence affidavit of Ashish Jain, Dy. Branch Manager of HDFC Bank as Annexure RW3/A and closed the evidence on behalf of OP No.2                

8.                     It is not disputed that in the month of July 2011 the complainant submitted a proposal on behalf of his daughter Ms. Divya Sipani to the OP No.1 Insurance Company  and paid the first premium of Rs. 2,00,000/- vide cheque No. 024443 dated 16.07.2011 from his saving bank account No. 02101000052019 as proposer. It is also not disputed that OPs Insurance Company delivered the policy No. 14499564 dated 20.07.2011 to Ms. Divya Sipani daughter of the complainant. It is also not disputed that on the objections raised by the complainant and after conducting the enquiry by the official of the Ops Insurance company it was found that the officials of the OPs Insurance company committed fraud with the documents and issued wrong insurance policy by manipulating the things, upon which the OPs insurance company cancelled the policy and refunded the amount of Rs. 2,00,000/- vide cheque No. 315611 dated 18.04.2013 drawn on HDFC Bank ltd. and the same was handed over to the complainant on 21.04.2013 which is clearly mentioned in the reply of legal notice dated 24.07.2013 (Annexure C-3) as well as written statement in para No.5 of the preliminary objections.

9.                     Now the only dispute between the parties is that, as per the complainant, he is entitled to get interest at the rate of 24% per annum from the date of payment till actual realization whereas as per the version of the OPs No.1 & 2 the complainant is not entitled to get any interest as policy holder herself requested for cancellation of the said policy and the money was duly paid to the policy holder and the policy holder accepted the said amount without any protest. It has been further argued that initial deposit paid at the time of submitting the proposal form was an interest free deposit and therefore, the complainant is not entitled to get any interest.

10.                   We have perused the insurance policy but we could not find any guidelines in respect of payment of any interest. Counsel for both the parties failed to convince this Forum that whether there was any terms and conditions in respect of the interest is incorporated in the policy in question. The plea of the OPs No.1 & 2 insurance company that as the complainant himself made a request for cancellation of the policy in question and the initial amount deposited at the time of proposal form was interest free is not tenable in the absence of any specific provision in the terms and conditions of the insurance policy. It is not disputed that amount of Rs. 2,00,000/- was invested by the complainant with the OPs No.1 & 2 Insurance Company on 16.7.2011 which was refunded on 27.4.2013, was not refunded to the complainant on his willful request as the cheating and fraud was committed with the complainant by the officials of the OPs Insurance Company and due to that reason complainant was forced/compelled to surrender/ cancel the policy in question. Meaning thereby that the complainant got cancelled the policy in question due to the forged and misrepresentation of the facts by the officials of the OPs No.1 & 2 Insurance Company and not by his own free will. So, we are of the considered view that the complainant is entitled to get the relief of interest to compensate his economic loss.

11.                   Nothing has been  produced against OP No.3, hence the complaint qua OP No.3 is hereby dismissed.

12.                   Resultantly, we partly allow the complaint of complainant and direct the OPs  No.1 & 2 to pay interest on the amount of Rs. 2,00,000/- at the rate of 7% per annum from the date of deposit i.e. 16.7.2011 till its realization i.e. 27.4.2013 within a period of 30 days after preparation of copy of this order failing which complainant shall be entitled to get interest at the rate of 9% per annum  on the accrued interest for the defaulting period and further directed to pay Rs. 2000/- as compensation and litigation expenses to the complainant. Order be complied within 30 days after preparation of copy of this order failing which complainant shall be entitled to invoke the jurisdiction of this Forum as per law. Copies of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of costs as per rules. File be consigned to the record room after due compliance.

Announced in open court. 22.04.2016.

 

                                                                                    (AHSOK KUMAR GARG)

                                                                                    PRESIDENT

 

                                    (S.C.SHARMA)

                                     MEMBER