Haryana

Ambala

CC/443/2010

LT.COL. HARPREET SINGH S/O L.COL INDER SINGH - Complainant(s)

Versus

ICICI Bank Ltd. - Opp.Party(s)

BINDU JAIN

08 Dec 2015

ORDER

 

BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, AMBALA.

 

Complaint Case No.:443 of 2010

Date of Institution  : 07.10.2010

Date of decision     :  08.12.2015

Lt.  Col. Harpreet Singh son of Lt. Col.Inder Singh, 31-B Raja Park, Ambala Cantt.

                                                                                                                                    ……Complainant

                                                                                                      Versus

1.         ICICI Bank Limited, 660 Housing Board Colony near ITI Ambala City through its General Manager.

2.         ICICI Bank Limited, ICICI Bank tower Bandra Kurla Complex, Bandra, Mumbai East through its Chief Manager/General Manager.

                                                                                                ……Opposite Parties

Complaint Under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act.

CORAM:        SH. A.K. SARDANA, PRESIDENT.

                        SH. PUSHPINDER KUMAR, MEMBER.                      

Present:          Ms. Bindu Jain, Adv. counsel for complainant.

                        Sh. A.K. Kaushik, Adv. counsel for Ops.

ORDER.

                        Brief facts of the present complaint are that complainant is user and holder of ICICI Bank Credit Card No.4477478510539004 alongwith an additional card which was provided with original in the name of complainant’s wife vide No.4474478510539103. In the month of May 2008, card No.4477478510539004 was lost and thus, the complainant got that card blocked by informing the Ops and had been using the additional card for his expenditure since  then but the credit card statement was being sent on the original card No.4477478510539004. It has been further contended  by the complainant that he has been using the above said card since 6 years and has never defaulted in making the payment on due date and used the said credit card to the extent of Rs.15,300/-.  Though the amount outstanding towards the complainant was Rs.15,300/- yet the complainant made payment of Rs.16,000/- through a cheque No.19586 drawn on ICICI Bank from his account No.016201003165.  The said amount was duly debited from his bank account on 11.12.2008 but on 16.12.2008, the complainant received a call from an employee of OP No.1 that the complainant had not paid the abovesaid dues of his credit card Thereafter, the complainant sent e-mails on 18.12.2008 & 26.12.2008 respectively to the customer care of ICICI Bank.com giving them the details of his payment of Rs.16,000/- whereby the Ops acknowledged the receipt of Rs.16,000/- through cheque on 26.12.2008 and informed the complainant through  the e-mail dated 29.12.2008 that the late payment fee, service tax etc. have been reversed. The complainant received his credit card statement of account dated 19.06.2009 wherein he found that the payment of Rs.16,000/- had not been credited in his credit card account and bank levied the late payment charges etc. which made the outstanding dues Rs.18245/- towards the complainant. Thereafter the complainant sent e-mail dated 24.06.2009 about the mismanagement in his account to the Ops customer care wherein the Ops informed  that  the cheque  of Rs.16000/- has been returned in April 2009 but  as a matter of fact neither alleged returned cheque had been credited back in the complainant’s ICICI Bank account in April 2009 or May 2009 nor it was received back by the complainant as alleged rather the Bank A/c of the complainant is showing the entry of withdrawal of Rs.16,000/- as on dated 11.12.2008. The complainant has further contended that the question of returning of the cheque of Rs.16,000/- did not arise since the said cheque was issued by complainant against his outstanding dues to which the Ops has acknowledged its receipt vide e-mail on 26.12.2008.  However, the Ops arbitrarily & without caring the customer relationship and in order to harm the complainant financially did not credited the said payment of Rs.16,000/- to his credit card account rather continued charging late payment fee alongwith other taxes  etc. illegally. The Ops did not bother to rectify the account of complainant inspite of repeated communications through number of emails dated 03.07.09, 08.07.09, 24.07.09, 29.07.09 and 30.07.09.  In August 2009, the complainant personally visited the Op No.2 at Mumbai but to utmost surprise he was informed  that his card has been blocked due to outstanding dues although the complainant had cleared all his dues in time rather paid extra payment of Rs.700/-.  In November 2009, the complainant again visited Op No.2 to resolve the matter as the late payment charges was accumulated and outstanding dues became Rs.25584.87NP but no response. Thereafter, complainant received a credit card statement of account on dated 18.12.2009 which reflected receipt of cheque of Rs.16,000/- on dated 26.11.2009 inspite of acknowledging the receipt of cheque on 26.12.2008.  Besides it, OPs did not cancel the late payment charges of Rs.9584/- rather declared the complainant defaulter and put his name on CIBIL (Central Information Bureau Limited of India) to hide their deficiency, negligence and unfair trade practice.  The complainant submitted that he applied for a home  loan with Ops but they refused him to advance loan being defaulter and his name on CIBIL and therefore, no other bank is advancing loan to him  which is a huge financial loss to the complainant. It  has been further contended by the complainant that in the year 2008, Ops had linked up the complainants credit card account with some another holder of credit card and on that account, the recovery agent of OP No.1 came to the house of complainant and threatened his old parents to  recover the outstanding dues which was not of the complainant.  At that time, the complainant took leave from his unit at Meerut and came to Ambala to the Op No.1 and inquired into the matter where the employee of the OP No.1 Bank acknowledged the bank’s fault and assured not to repeat it in future but the matter does not ended as alleged above. Hence, the present complaint has been preferred by the complainant  seeking relief as per prayer clause.

2.                     Upon notice, Ops appeared and filed written statement raising preliminary objections qua non-maintainability of complaint, concealment of true facts and the dispute between the complainant and the Ops are not under the purview of C.P. Act. On merits, it has been urged that the complainant has twisted the true facts  and has not disclosed that of which period the bill of Rs.15,300/- was raised by the Ops and what was the due date of payment and on which date, the complainant made the payment. However, it is contended by the Ops that on 15.11.2008, the complainant had used his credit card at clear trip. Com Mumbai for a sum of Rs.15,259/- and a statement dated 18.11.2008 was issued to the complainant in this regard in which the last date of payment was 07.12.2008. The cheque of Rs.16,000/- was debited from the account of complainant on 11.12.2008 but this payment was made after the due date of its payment i.e. after 07.12.2008. It has been further contended by the Ops that payment of Rs.16,000/- was credited in the credit card Account of the complainant on 26.12.2008 and the over dues charges i.e. late payment fee, service tax, interest charges levied in  his account as per the statement dated 18.12.2008 were reversed in the statement dated  18.01.2009.  It has been further contended by the Ops that “complainant was advised several times and even till now to settle the dispute outside the court and the bank is ready to waive off all the  overdues charges, if the complainant is ready to get the matter compromised amicably.  Further the payment of Rs.16,000/- shown credit/received in statement dated 18.12.2009 is a rectified entry because during the bank reconciliation statement in March 2009, the payment received on 26.12.2008 was not reconciled but later on in November 2009, the payment was reconciled with the efforts made by the customer care ICICI Bank Ltd.  and the cheque  returned enteries shown on dated 18.04.2009 was again credited on 26.11.2009, it is a mistake which was reconciled through  BRS (Bank Reconciliation Statement) and the entry reconciled during BRS cannot be amount to deficiency in service.  Thus the name of complainant shown in CIBIL is due to default in payment.”  As such, the Ops have prayed that there is no deficiency in service on their part and the complaint is liable to be dismissed with costs.

3.                     To prove its case, counsel for complainant tendered  affidavit of complainant as Annexure CX alongwith documents as Annexures C-1 to C-16 and closed the evidence whereas on the other hand, counsel for Ops tendered  affidavit   of one Jaswant Singh employee of OP Bank as Anneuxre RX alongwith documents as Annexures R-1 to R-7 and closed the evidence on behalf of Ops.

4.                     We have heard learned counsel for the parties and gone through the record very carefully.  At the very outset, it is an admitted case of the parties that the amount of Rs.16,000/- credited to the credit card account of complainant  on 26.12.2008  was not reconciled by the officials of OP Bank in reconciliation of March 2009 mistakenly but later on, it was reconciled in November 2009 with the intervention of Customer Care Centre of OP Bank Ltd. during BRS and  the late payment fee, interest charges, service tax etc. levied in the account of complainant have been returned as per e-mails dated 29.12.2008 & 31.12.2008 respectively (Annexure C-5 & C-6).  Now the main grievance of the complainant is  that his name has wrongly been put on CIBIL by OP Bank for non-payment of credit card dues  because of which the complainant is suffering a lot  while dealing with the bank  of Ops as well as of other banks whereas  the complainant never remained defaulter of OP Bank. This version of the complainant is admittedly true as the Ops have admitted their mistake in para No.11 & 12 of the reply to complaint submitted by them that “during reconciliation in March 2009, the payment of Rs.16,000/- received on 26.12.2008 from the complainant was not reconciled rather the same was reconciled in the account of complainant in November 2009” but they have failed to admit their deficiency in service rather urged in the reply that entry reconciled   during the Bank reconciliation does not amounts to deficiency in service which is patently wrong and not appreciable  as per facts of the present case and thus we deprecate such a practice by OP Bank.

                        In view of the facts discussed above, we have no hesitation in holding that the Ops are not only deficient in providing proper services to the complainant rather they have played unfair trade practice with him by dragging /putting his name on CIBIL despite making payment of credit card resulting  into lowering the reputation of complainant  in the society as well as causing financial loss to him qua taking loan from other banks. Accordingly, the present complaint is allowed  and Ops are directed to comply with the following directions within thirty days  from the communication of this order:-

1. To get the name of complainant deleted from CIBIL (Central Information Bureau of India Limited).
2. And to pay a sum of Rs.20,000/- on account of harassment and mental agony suffered by complainant  for the last more than five years.
3. Also to pay a sum of Rs.10,000/- as litigation charges including the Advocate’s fee.

 

                                    The aforesaid directions must be complied with by the Ops within  the stipulated period otherwise  all  the aforesaid awarded amounts shall fetch  simple interest @ Rs.9% per annum for the period of default. Copies of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of costs, as per rules. File after due compliance be consigned to record room.

 

ANNOUNCED:08.12.2015                                                      Sd/-

                                                                                             (A.K. SARDANA)

                                 PRESIDENT                

 

                                                                                                Sd/-

(PUSHPENDER KUMAR)  

                                                                                                              MEMBER