DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, BATHINDA CC.No.562 of 08-12-2010 Decided on 25-04-2011
John R Masih S/o Sh. Rahmat Masih, aged about 80 years, resident of House No.20693, Street No.26, Ajit Road, Bathinda. .......Complainant
Versus ICICI Bank Ltd., Guru Teg Bhadur Chowk, Bibiwala Road, Bathinda, through its Manager. ......Opposite party
Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
QUORUM
Smt. Vikramjit Kaur Soni, President. Dr.Phulinder Preet, Member. Sh.Amarjeet Paul, Member.
Present:- For the Complainant: Sh.Tejinder Singh, counsel for the complainant. For Opposite parties: Sh.Sanjay Goyal, counsel for opposite party.
ORDER
VIKRAMJIT KAUR SONI, PRESIDENT:-
1. The present complaint has been filed by the complainant under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as amended up-to-date (Here-in-after referred to as 'Act'). The brief facts of the complaint are that the complainant is an old age man of around 80 years. He opened a Saving Bank A/c No.016301524840 after depositing Rs.5,000/- with the opposite party. The opposite party also issued an ATM card No.524840 VISA ELECTRON against the aforesaid saving bank account. The complainant neither used his ATM Card for any money transaction nor withdrew any amount from his saving bank account till date. The complainant has also never received any statement of account from the opposite party regarding the said account. In the first week of September 2010, the complainant required money for purchase of medicines. He approached the opposite party for withdrawal of money from his saving bank account but he was informed that there is no money available in his account. The complainant inquired the opposite party about his money deposited but no satisfactory answer was given to him. The complainant asked for the statement of account from the opposite party under RTI Act on 08.09.2010 but the same has not been supplied to the complainant till date. The opposite party refused to pay back the money deposited by the complainant. Hence, the complainant has filed this complaint. 2. The opposite party has filed its written statement and pleaded that the complainant is not a consumer of the opposite party as prescribed in the 'Act' because the account of the complainant has been closed on 29.11.2008 and once account of the complainant stands closed then by no means, the complainant can claim himself to be the consumer because the opposite party is not providing any service to the complainant after closing the account. The opposite party has further pleaded that the present complaint is time barred as he is demanding Rs.5,000/- from the opposite party whereas on 14.10.2006, the complainant had nil balance in his account and now after expiry of 4 years, the complainant cannot seek refund of Rs.5,000/- and the account of the complainant has been closed on 29.11.2008. The complainant had to maintain minimum balance of Rs.5,000/-. On the very entrance of the every branch of ICICI Bank, a big notice board is displayed showing the tariff applicable for saving account holder as well as for current account holder. It is clearly mentioned on the notice board that Rs.5,000/- Quarterly Average Balance (QAB) is required to be maintained compulsory otherwise minimum charges amount shall be charged and any person who make his banking on internet then whenever the site is opened first of all the tariff applicable is shown which indicates that Rs.5,000/- QAB is required to be maintained compulsorily otherwise minimum charges amount shall be charged and when any customer uses ATM Card then a warning on the monitor to show that customer who does not maintain minimum charges and applicable tariff is also shown and in the present case, the complainant himself signed the application Form for opening the Saving Account and it is clearly mentioned in Tariff Guide that “Your ICICI Bank Saving Account brings to you the following privileges when you maintain a minimum quarterly average balance (QAB) of Rs.5,000/- and it has been specifically mentioned that charges for non-maintenance of Quarterly Average Balance is Rs.750/- per calendar quarterly plus transaction charges for all customers except senior citizens, The complainant was always issued quarterly statement of account and was provided with Internet Banking where the complainant could confirm his balance and he can also confirm his balance from any ATM machine by using his ATM Card. The opposite party has further pleaded that account can be opened with any amount but customer is supposed to maintain minimum QAB of Rs.5,000/- and opening of account with balance of Rs.500/- does not mean that they are not required to maintain minimum balance and for further clarification, it is added that customer is required to maintain minimum balance because following facilities are provided free of cost to customers of ICICI Bank :- Internet Banking Phone Banking Mobile Banking Unlimited branch access Unlimited ATM Transactions The opposite party has further pleaded that RTI Act is not applicable to Private Banks and the complainant himself was aware that his account has been closed in 2008. 3. Parties have led their evidence in support of their respective pleadings. 4. Arguments heard. Record alongwith written submissions submitted by the parties perused. 5. The main contention of the complainant is that he is an old man of 80 years and suffering from acute hypertension. He opened a Saving Bank A/c No.016301524840 after depositing Rs.5,000/- and ATM Card No.524840 VISA ELECTRON was issued to him but he has not done any transaction through the said ATM Card and no statement of account has been given by the opposite party to him for his account. In the first week of September 2010, the complainant approached the opposite party for withdrawal of money from his Saving Bank Account but he was informed that there was no money available in his account. He has also filed an application under RTI Act to know the status of his account but no reply has been given by the opposite party and the opposite party closed his account on 29.11.2008. 6. The opposite party has raised legal objections that the complainant is not a consumer as his account was closed on 29.11.2008 and the complaint is time barred as there was nil balance on 14.10.2006. Now, the complainant is demanding Rs.5,000/- from the opposite party and has filed his complaint after expiry of 4 years for seeking refund of Rs.5,000/- but the account of the complainant has already been closed on 29.11.2008. The opposite party has further submitted that the complainant had to maintain minimum balance of Rs.5,000/-. For this, they displayed on entrance of the every branch of ICICI Bank, a big notice board showing the tariff applicable for saving account holder as well as for current account holder. It is clearly mentioned on the notice board that Rs.5,000/- Quarterly Average Balance (QAB) is required to be maintained compulsorily, otherwise minimum charges amount of Rs.750/- shall be charged. For this, the opposite party has mentioned in Tariff Guide that :- “Your ICICI Bank Saving Account brings to you the following privileges when you maintain a minimum quarterly average balance (QAB) of Rs.5,000/- and it has been specifically mentioned that charges for non-maintenance of Quarterly Average Balance is Rs.750/- per calendar quarterly plus transaction charges for all customers except senior citizens, Bank@campus and young Stars Customers.” The opposite party has further submitted that account can be opened with any amount but customer is supposed to maintain minimum QAB of Rs.5,000/- and opening of account with balance of Rs.500/- does not mean that they are not required to maintain minimum balance and for further clarification, it is submitted that customer is required to maintain minimum balance because following facilities are provided free of cost to customers of ICICI Bank :- Internet Banking Phone Banking Mobile Banking Unlimited branch access Unlimited ATM Transactions 7. A perusal of Ex.C-7, the opposite parties have taken legal objections that the complainant is not consumer as his account has been closed in the year 2006 and he is demanding money deposited by him in 2008. the complainant is consumer as his money is still lying with the opposite party. The other objections taken by the opposite party with regard to limitation, is also not tenable as the amount of Rs.5,000/- is still lying with the opposite party. 8. A perusal of Ex.C-7 shows that the complainant's age was 73 years when he opened the account with the opposite party on 28.08.2004. According to Ex.C-7, his date of birth is 18.08.1931, which means, he was already covered under the category of Senior Citizen. As he is covered under this category, no deductions are applicable on hi. To corroborate the Pension Payment Order Ex.C-7, the complainant has also placed on file Ex.C-8 i.e. middle standard examination certificate. On this, the date of birth is written as 18.08.31. The statement of account Ex.C-9 shows that Rs.109/- are charged on account of ATM where as in reply as well as affidavit, they have stated that there are no charges for ATM. After deducting the amount on account of minimum balance maintenance charges, the balance of the complainant's account became 'Zero'. The opposite party is not having in its possession the record of the complainant as according to it, they have closed the account of the complainant in the year 2008 but according to Banking Companies (period of Preservation of Records) Rules, 1985 (29 March 1985) Published on January 5, 2010 that :- “Every banking company shall preserve, in good order, its books, accounts and other documents mentioned below, relating to a period of not less than eight years immediately preceding the current calender year:- All personal ledgers Branch Ledgers Paying in slips Vouchers relating to DDs, TTs, MTs, Fixed Deposits, Call Deposits, Cash credits and other deposit and loan accounts including vouchers relating to payment to nominees. Account opening forms, inventories prepared in respect of articles in safe custody and safely locker and nomination forms. As per the version of the opposite party, no deductions are applicable to Senior Citizens. Despite fully aware of the fact that the complainant is senior citizen, deducted the charges from his account which tentamounts to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on the part of the opposite party. Moreover, no notice/intimation has been given to the complainant regarding the closure of his account and he has not been issued periodical account statements or issued any pass book. 9. In view of what has been discussed above, this Forum is of the considered view that there is deficiency in service on the part of the opposite party. Hence, this complaint is accepted with Rs.500/- as cost and Rs.5,000/- as compensation. The opposite party is directed to pay Rs.5,000/- alongwith interest @ 9% p.a. from the date of deposit till realization. Compliance of this order be done within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order. 10. A copy of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of cost and file be consigned for record. '
Pronounced in open Forum 25-04-2011 (Vikramjit Kaur Soni) President
(Dr.Phulinder Preet) Member
(Amarjeet Paul) Member
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