DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, BATHINDA
CC.No.329 of 12-08-2013
Decided on 25-11-2013
Subash Chander aged about 40 years S/o Lakhan R/o SCF 83, Phase-I, Model Town, Bathinda.
........Complainant
Versus
HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Ltd., through its Manager Guru Kanshi Marg, Near Ahluwalia Complex, Bathinda.
.......Opposite party
Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
QUORUM
Smt.Vikramjit Kaur Soni, President.
Sh.Amarjeet Paul, Member.
Smt.Sukhwinder Kaur, Member.
Present:-
For the Complainant: Sh.Sanjay Goyal, counsel for the complainant.
For Opposite party: Sh.Vinod Garg, counsel for opposite party.
ORDER
VIKRAMJIT KAUR SONI, PRESIDENT:-
1. The instant complaint has been filed under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as amended upto date (Here-in-after referred to as an 'Act') by the complainant. The brief facts of the complaint are that the complainant purchased the insurance policy bearing No.13813129 (as stated on telephone) and made the payment of Rs.50,000/- in the month of July 2010 and was assured by the opposite party that he is required to make the payment of two years more. The complainant was having account bearing No.01871050108028 with HDFC bank Bathinda and the amount was directly debited from his account as such no receipt of the payment was issued to him, rather the intimation regarding the payment was sent through SMS only. Neither any cover note nor any separate terms and conditions were ever supplied to the complainant by the opposite party and even free look period was not provided to him. The complainant further alleged that the manager of the opposite party took his signatures on many blank printed documents by saying that the same were required for the commencement of the abovesaid policy. The complainant sought the refund of Rs.1,50,000/- alongwith interest as he paid three premiums of Rs.50,000/- each upto July, 2012 and was entitled to the refund of Rs.1,50,000/- alongwith interest after the expiry of 3 years but the opposite party refused to refund the same on the pretext that he has to make the payment of minimum 10 years otherwise he would be entitled to get the refund of Rs.1,19,000/- only i.e. the fund value but previously he was never informed or made agree to regarding any type of the deduction. Hence the complainant has filed the present complaint to seek the directions to the opposite party to refund the amount of Rs.1,50,000/- alongwith interest @ 12% p.a. besides cost and compensation.
2. The opposite party has filed its written statement and pleaded that the complainant has concealed the material facts and documents from this Forum, as such the complainant is not entitled to any relief. The complainant has concealed the fact that he purchased the insurance policy bearing No.13813129 on his own accord and free will and submitted duly filled proposal form bearing No.S000029322156 and illustration of benefits for HDFC Young Star Supreme Suvidha Policy/Plan and accordingly HDFC Young Star Supreme Suvidha policy bearing No.13813129 was issued to him. The complainant received the policy documents via blue dart courier and POD No.44076799432 on dated 2.8.2010 but he failed to pay the renewal premium due on 28.7.2013 and policy lapsed. The complainant has taken the support of the law laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in case cited as 2011(1) CLT 485 (SC) and 2009(4) CLT 313 (SC), wherein it has been held that the terms and conditions of the policy are binding between the parties. If the complainant was not satisfied with the plan of the abovesaid policy, he had every right to seek the cancellation of his policy within the free look period of 15 days from the date of receipt of the abovesaid policy but he never sought the cancellation of the abovesaid policy even after its receipt. The complainant has failed to pay any renewal premium thereafter, but at present his policy has lapsed due to the non-payment of the premium. The opposite party has not obtained the signatures of the complainant on any blank papers, rather he has submitted duly filled proposal form and benefits of illustration.
3. The parties have led their evidence in support of their respective pleadings.
4. Arguments heard. The record alongwith written submissions submitted by the parties perused.
5. Admitted facts of the parties are that the complainant has purchased the insurance policy bearing No.13813129 and made the payment of Rs.50,000/- in the month of July 2010 and also paid two more premiums of Rs.50,000/- each, in this way he has paid Rs.1,50,000/- upto July, 2012 .
6. The disputed facts of the parties are that the complainant submitted that the opposite party allured him that he has to make the payment of Rs.50,000/- each for 3 years and would be insured for the amount of Rs.2,50,000/-. The complainant was assured by the opposite party that in case he wants to get the refund of the amount, he would be given Rs.1,50,000/- alongwith interest @ 12% p.a. and no charges shall be deducted and he can claim for the refund of the amount at anytime. Accordingly, the complainant has opted for the abovesaid policy and paid the premiums for 3 years to the tune of Rs.50,000/- each and total premium amount is paid to the opposite party to the tune of Rs.1,50,000/-. The amount was directly debited from his account bearing No.01871050108028 as such no receipt of the payment was issued to the complainant, rather the intimation regarding the payment was sent through SMS only. The complainant further submitted that neither any cover note nor any separate terms and conditions were ever supplied to the complainant by the opposite party and even free look period was not provided to him and the terms and conditions were never made part of the proposal form. The manager of the opposite party took the signatures of the complainant on many blank printed documents by saying that the same were required for the commencement of the abovesaid policy. The complainant applied for the refund of Rs.1,50,000/- alongwith interest after the expiry of 3 years but the opposite party refused to refund the same on the ground that he has to make the payment of minimum 10 years otherwise he would be entitled to get the refund of Rs.1,19,000/- only i.e. fund value but earlier he was never informed by the opposite party regarding any type of the deduction.
7. On the other hand the opposite party submitted that the signatures of the complainant has not been obtained on any blank papers. The complainant has purchased the insurance policy bearing No.13813129 with his own free will under the plan 'HDFC Young Star Supreme Suvidha'. The complainant has received the policy documents through blue dart courier on dated 2.8.2010 but he failed to pay the renewal premium due on 28.7.2013 and policy lapsed. The opposite party further submitted that if the complainant was not satisfied with his policy, he would have got cancelled his policy within the free look period of 15 days from the date of receipt of the abovesaid policy but he never sought the cancellation of the abovesaid policy even after its receipt. As the complainant has not paid the premium due on 28.7.2013, his policy is lapsed. The opposite party has taken the support of the precedent laid down in case cited as Ram Lal Aggarwal Vs. Bajaj Allianz LIC, 2013(3) CPJ 203 and has submitted that this complaint is not maintainable as per the law laid down by Hon'ble National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi wherein case titled Ram Lal Aggarwalla Vs. Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Revision Petition No.658 of 2012, whereas on the other hand the complainant has given the reference of precedent laid down by Hon'ble National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi in case titled Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana Vs. UTI of India and Anr., Original Petition No.51 of 2005, decided on 17.4.2009, I (2012) CPJ 166 (NC), wherein it has been held:-
“i) Consumer Protection Act, 1986-Sections 2(1)(d)(ii), 2(1)(g), 21(a)(i)-Jurisdiction-Investment-Improving 'Livelihood Security' of employees-Complaint Maintainability of-Consumer-Commercial Purpose-Complainant /University invested funds of its employees with OP for their benefits-Some dispute regarding investments arose-Complaint filed-Deficiency in service alleged-Maintainability of complaint challenged on ground that complainant is not consumer as complainant invested money knowingly and investment could not be said to be for 'self-employment' or 'for earning his livelihood'-Reference made to decide that whether the complainant covered under definition of 'consumer' or not-It is clear that what was hired by complainant was 'services' and not goods-Aim of Act is to protect economic interest of consumer as understood in commercial sense as a purchaser of goods and in larger sense of user of services-Explanation following Section 2(1)(d)(ii) of Act would be clarificatory in nature and does not supplant meaning of word 'consumer', vis-a-vis, 'services' as it appears in main section where exclusion clause will come into play if it is for 'commercial' purpose-Having gone through meaning of word 'commercial' defined under various law dictionaries, it is no doubt that words 'commercial purpose' would cover undertaking, objective which is to make a 'profit'-Investment made by University for improving 'livelihood security' of their employees who would be left with better 'financial security', after retirement-Therefore, investment shall not under any circumstances fall under word 'commercial' excluding complainant from definition of 'consumer'-In view of above, no merit in objection raised by OP-Complaint is maintainable.”
8. Thus as per the precedent laid down by Hon'ble National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, New Delhi in case titled Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana Vs. UTI of India and Anr. (Supra), this complaint is maintainable.
9. A perusal of Ex.OP1/5 placed on file shows that as per terms and conditions of Clause 5 Surrender, Lapsed, Paid-Up Policies:-
“5)(i)(b) Surrender after the first three years of the policy.
A policy may be surrendered at anytime after the first three years of the policy. On request for surrender, the Life Assured will not be covered for the death benefits as described in Provision 3(i) with immediate effect.
The amount payable on surrender will be the Unit Fund Value on surrender less the Surrender charge, if applicable, as specified in the Schedule of Charges. The Surrender Charge will be determined by us at our sole discretion from time to time with prior approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, subject to the maximum as stated in the Schedule of Charges.
Upon payment of this benefit, the policy terminates and no further benefits are payable. A surrendered policy will not be re-instated under any circumstances.”
In the abovesaid Clause it has been particularly mentioned that the amount payable on surrender will be the unit fund value on surrender less the surrender charge, if applicable, as specified in the Schedule of Charges. As per Clause 5(iii) premium unpaid after the first 3 years of the policy:-
“a) If any premium remains unpaid as described in Provision 4 after the first 3 years of the policy, the policy will be made paid-up. For a paid-up policy the unit funds will continue to be invested; risk cover will continue; all charges including the mortality charges will continue to be deducted and the policyholder will be entitled to all policy servicing. Premiums can be paid into a paid-up policy only during the period of 5 years from the due date of the earliest outstanding premium. Any premiums paid into a paid-up policy are used to clear the outstanding premiums in the order of their due dates, the earliest being the first to be cleared. The premiums paid will be used to allocate units to the policy in accordance with provision 9(ii).
b) A paid-up policy can be revived anytime during the period of 5 years from the due date of the earliest outstanding premium, subject to any terms and conditions which we may specify from time to time. These terms will include payment of all outstanding regular premiums. A revival charge, as specified in the schedule of charges, may be levied. The Revival Charge will be deducted by cancellation of units. The Revival Charge will be determined by us at our sole discretion from time to time with prior approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, subject to the maximum as stated in the Schedule of Charges. On revival, the outstanding premiums will be used to allocate units to the policy in accordance with the provision 9(xiii).
c) If the paid-up policy is not revived within the period of 5 years from the due date of the earliest outstanding premium, then you can either choose to continue the policy in a paid-up state for the remaining term of the policy or choose to surrender the policy.
If you choose to continue the policy in a paid-up state, then the unit funds will continue to be invested; risk cover will continue; all charges including the mortality charges will continue to be deducted; and the policyholder will be entitled to all policy servicing. However no further premiums would be accepted into the policy.
If you choose to surrender the policy, then the policy will be surrendered in accordance with Provision 5(i).”
10. The opposite party has specifically submitted that this policy has been lapsed due to the non-payment of the premium of 4th year but as per Clause 5(iii) of the terms and conditions, the policy will be made paid-up which can be revived at anytime but it cannot be lapsed, thus the opposite party has filed its reply contradictory to the terms and conditions of the abovesaid policy.
11. Thus in view of what has been discussed above there is deficiency in service on the part of the opposite party as the complainant has paid 3 premiums of Rs.50,000/- each in 3 years and in total he has paid 3 premiums of Rs.1,50,000/-, thus he is entitled to get the refund as per Clause 5(i)(b) 'Surrender after the first three years of the policy', according to this as discussed above the amount payable on surrender will be the Unit Fund Value on surrender less the surrender charge, if applicable, as specified in the Schedule of Charges.
12. Therefore in view of what has been discussed above this complaint is accepted with Rs.5000/- as cost and compensation and the opposite party is directed to refund the amount of Rs.1,50,000/- after making the deductions specified in Clause 5(i)(b) of the Surrender Clause and to furnish the complete detail of the deductions to the complainant.
13. The compliance of this order be done within 45 days from the date of receipt of the copy of this order.
14. In case of non-compliance the amount payable under the policy will carry interest @ 9% p.a. till its realization.
15. A copy of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of cost and file be consigned to the record room.
Pronounced in open Forum (Vikramjit Kaur Soni)
25-11-2013 President
(Amarjeet Paul)
Member
(Sukhwinder Kaur)
Member
