Sri. Apurba Kr. Ghosh ……...................President
The Complainant has filed this Case against the OP’s and praying for the following Order/reliefs :-
a) A direction against the O.Ps. to remove the name of the Complainant from the CIBIL website.
b) A direction against the O.Ps. to provide a No Dues certificate to the Complainant, after removing the name of the Complainant from the CIBIL website, as defaulter.
c) A direction against the O.Ps. to pay a sum of Rs. 3,00,000/- (Rupees Three Lakhs) only on account of mental pain, agony and continuous harassment.
d) A direction against the O.Ps. to pay a sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- (Rupees One Lakhs) only to the Complainant on account of punitive damages.
e) A direction against the O.Ps. to pay a sum of Rs. 60,000/- (Rupees Sixty Thousands) only towards costs of Legal Proceedings .
f) Any other relief/reliefs to which the Complainant is legally entitled.
BRIEF FACTS OF THE COMPLAINT
- That , the Complainant is a peace loving and law abiding citizen of India / In the year 2008, the Complainant was working in a Call Center at Gurgaon / he was then posted there. The Complainant has a Salary Account with the OP I.C.I.C.I Bank ltd.
2. That 1, .C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. is a renowned bank in the territory of India and also in other countries in the banking field and they have worldwide banking business including the business of other banking related services and they have also the business of providing Credit Card to their customers .
3. That, the O.P. No.-1 is the Credit Card Division of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. and the registered office of the Credit Card Division of I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. is situated as mentioned in the cause- title of the Complaint and the Chief Executive Officer of I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. is liable and responsible for the day to day works, affairs and business of the Credit Card of I.C.I.C.I Bank d. for the entire territory of India.
4. That, the O.P. No.-2 is the Corporate Office of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. and have their office at the address as mentioned in the cause-title of the plaint and the 1.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. is doing its day to day works, affairs and business through their several branches which are situated in the several places of this world and the Managing Director of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. is/are solely and jointly liable for the day to day works, affairs and business of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. for the entire world.
5. That, the O.P. No.-3 is the Branch Office of I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. and the Branch Manager of the O.P. No. 2 is also severally and jointly liable for the day to day works, affairs and business of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd.
6. That , the Complainant has made an application for obtaining Credit Card from I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. for his personal use and thereafter one staff of the O.P. No.-2, over telephone, has confirmed regarding the application submitted by the Complainant and after confirmation of the information as sought/asked for by the said staff of the O.P. No. 2, he/she has confirmed the Complainant that the Complainant will get the Credit Card, which would be issued by the O.P. No. 1 within a short span.
7. That, subsequently, one person, claiming to be the courier boy, had called the Complainant three to four times and at that time, the said courier boy had disclosed that he wanted to deliver one Credit Card to the Complainant and as the Complainant was not present there at that point of time, so the Complainant had requested the said courier boy to leave the Credit Card and deliver it to the office desk of the Complainant, but the courier boy had refused to leave the said Credit Card for obtaining the signature of the Complainant in the receipt copy and also for obtaining a proper copy of Id Card of the Complainant, as a proof of receiving the Credit Card./ the said courier boy had tried to call two to three times to deliver the said Credit Card to the Complainant, but due to conflict of timings, the said courier boy had sent the said Credit Card to the office o of the O.P. No.-2, as the courier boy could not able to deliver the said Credit Card to the hand of the Complainant.
8. That , after that one staff from the office of the O.P. No.2 had made a phone call to the mobile number of the Complainant and asked the Complainant to provide his home address for proper delivery of the said Credit Card directly to the Complainant and accordingly the Complainant had provided his home address / after confirming the home address some days later, one person called the Complainant claiming to be courier boy asked the complainant regarding his address and also asked the maiden name of his mother for confirmation of delivery of the Credit Card / that after hearing the questions from that person the Complainant thought that such aforesaid details might have been required for making delivery of the Credit Card, as the courier boy did not ask any Pin number, Card number, Account number or the bank details of the Complainant and accordingly, the Complainant has disclosed his address and the maiden name of his mother, with a hope that the courier boy might have been delivered the said Credit Card quickly to him after confirmation of the address of the Complainant , but no Credit Card was ever been delivered to the Complainant on any occasion whatsoever by the O.Ps., through their courier agent, nor the Complainant had ever been received any Credit Card issued by the O.Ps. in the name of the Complainant.
9. That , on very next day evening, the Complainant had suddenly found that there was five to six missed calls in the mobile number of the Complainant, as the Complainant was then into a deep sleep, due to night shift work and at the same time, very shockingly, the Complainant had received a message that he had purchased a sum of Rs. 55,000/- (Rupees Fifty Five Thousand) only amounting items and then the Complainant was in trauma for few minutes and in the meantime, the Complainant had again received a phone call from the Fraud Preventing Department of I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. and they have asked the Complainant whether the Complainant has purchased any items amounting to Rs. 55,000/- (Rupees Fifty Five Thousand) only by using Credit Card, then the Complainant had disclosed that he could not able to purchase anything through Credit Card, as he did not get/receive any Credit Card from the O.Ps. and during such conversation, the Complainant had requested the Opposite side caller, who claiming to be the staff of the Fraud Preventing Department of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. to block the Credit Card of the Complainant for further any fraudulent transaction, but said person had disclosed that he could not able to block the Credit Card of the Complainant and then the Complainant has requested him to do any needful immediately, as the Complainant did not know his Credit Card number, as it was never been delivered/physically handed over to the Complainant, but even after several requests and demands, the Credit Card alleged to be issued to the Complainant was not blocked by the said staff of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd./ subsequently, the Complainant, on several times, called in the toll free number of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd., but on all the occasions, the IVR System asked the Complainant about his card number and thus, even after giving best efforts, the Complainant was not able to block the Credit Card, as the Complainant could not able to disclose his Card number, due to non-delivery of the same / after lapse of few minutes, the Complainant again got/received a message that another transaction amounting to Rs. 4,700/- (Rupees Four Thousand and Seven Hundred) only was illegally showing as done by the Complainant / after getting such message, the Complainant became shocked and he was then practically in a helpless position, as due to want of Card number or Pin number, the Complainant could not able to block his Credit Card .
Be it mentioned here that , after continuous trying for four to five days, somehow the Complainant had able to block the said Credit card with the help of four digit number, which the Complainant had received in a message and immediately after blocking the said Credit Card, the Complainant got a phone call from the Customer Care Center of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. and the Customer Care Center of the I.C.L.C.I Bank Ltd. had informed the Complainant that they had initiated the dispute with their investigating team and then the Complainant asked to the opposite caller whether he had to go to police station for lodging any complaint, then the said staff of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. had disclosed to the Complainant that no need to go anywhere, as they will investigate the matter within 45 days and at that time, the said staff of L.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. had disclosed to the Complainant that they will send another Credit Card to the Complainant, but the Complainant had flatly refused to take any Credit Card from the L.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd., prior to sort out earlier disputes.
10. That, after few days later, one person called the Complainant claiming to be the investigating officer of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. and the said person had asked some information’s from the Complainant and accordingly, the Complainant had provided all the information’s as asked by the said person over telephone, as the Complainant was then out of station / the Complainant had clearly disclosed with the said person that he had only received one temporary Credit letter on 25th/26th September, 2008, issued by the I.C.I.C.I. Bank Ltd. to the Complainant and the Complainant has also clearly disclosed the said person that he had never been received any Credit Card allegedly issued by the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. So, the question of swiping or using the Credit Card by the Complainant issued by the I.C.I.C.I. Bank Ltd. does not arise at all / after elapsing of few days, the Complainant had received a letter issued by the I.C.I.C.I. Bank Ltd. stating inter-alia that the case, initiated on the basis of complain made by the Complainant was settled to and in favour of the I.C.I.C.I. Bank Ltd., without conducting any hearing and without conducting any enquiry whatsoever in nature and there was no proceeding to make physical appearance of the complainant and to put his case properly and practically without hearing the Complainant, illegally and arbitrarily the said case/proceeding was settled in favour of the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. and thus, the decision of the investigating officer appointed by the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. was / is not tenable in the eye of law and such decision was / is not binding upon the Complainant on any point of time / subsequently one person claiming to be the staff of L.C.L.C.I Bank Ltd. had called the Complainant and instructed the Complainant to deposit the mount as stood out standing in the name of the Complainant, then the Complainant had asked that person to provide him the details of the proof of receiving the Credit Card by the Complainant and also asked to provide the proof of purchase slip but they could not able to provide a single piece of evidence to show that either the Complainant had received the Credit Card or the Complainant had purchased anything else by swapping the Credit Card as illegally demanded by the I.C.L.C.I Bank Ltd.
11. That , without resolving the real disputes raised by the Complainant, the LC.I.C.I Bank Ltd. had illegally put the name of the Complainant as defaulter in the CIBIL website and presently the CIBIL website is showing that a sum of Rs. 1,14,518/- (Rupees One Lakh Fourteen Thousand Five Hundred and Eighteen) only was/is due with the Complainant against overdue of a sum of Rs. 87,640/- (Rupees Eighty Seven Thousand Six Hundred und Forty) only though neither the Complainant used/swiped any Credit Card allegedly issued by the LC.I.C.L. Bank Ltd. and due to such ill acts of the I.C.I.C.I. Bank Ltd., the Credit Score of the Complainant is very much low and he was/is not in a position to take/obtain any loan from any bank or financial institutions for such low Credit Score / the Complainant is not a Government job holder and though he was decided to start a business in his name after taking loan from the bank, but he could not able to do so, due to ill acts done by the LC.I.C.I Bank Ltd., without having any default of the Complainant.
That the Complainant is not legally liable to pay a single penny to the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. against their alleged claim amount of Rs. 1,14,518/- (Rupees One Lakh Fourteen Thousand Five Hundred and Eighteen) only against the overdue of a sum of Rs. 87,640/- (Rupees Eighty Seven Thousand Six Hundred and Forty) only.
That , the Complainant intimated and informed the I.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd., in writing and through emails about the entire facts in toto and also the actual fact what he had faced since the month of September, 2008 but no fruitful steps were/are taken by the J.C.I.C.I Bank Ltd. for their illegal and mala fide gain and also with an ill motive to squeeze hard earned money and he acts and conducts of the O.Ps, it is crystal clear that there was a great deficiency in service, and negligence on the part of the O.Ps towards discharging their official duties and liabilities and thereby the O.Ps. are bound to pay the adequate compensation to the Complainant, as the Complainant has suffered immense mental pain, agony and harassment, which are still continuing.
12. That , the cause of action of this case, arose, on several date / dates and the month of September, 2008 and the same is still now continuing within the jurisdiction of this Commission and this Commission has every jurisdiction to entertain and try the instant case, as the Complainant is the permanent resident of Siliguri Sub-Division, within the jurisdiction of this Commission.
In support of the Complaint the Complainant has filed the following documents :-
1. Photocopy of email sent by the Complainant dated 25th September, 2008.
2. Photocopy of email sent by I.C.L.C.L. Bank Customer Care dated 26th September, 2008.
3. Photocopy of email sent by the Complainant dated 25th October, 2008.
4. Photocopy of email sent by I.C.I.C.I. Bank Customer Care dated 27th October, 2008.
5. Photocopy of email sent by the Complainant dated 30th October, 2008.
6. Photocopy of email sent by I.C.I:C.I. Bank Customer Care dated 3rd November, 2008.
7. Photocopy of email sent by I.C.I.C.I. Bank Customer Care dated 10th October, 2018.
8. Photocopy of email sent by the Complainant dated 26th November, 2018.
9. Photocopy of email sent by the Complainant dated 11th December, 2018.
10. Photocopy of email sent by the Complainant dated 14th January, 2019.
11. Photocopy of email sent by the Complainant dated 30th August, 2022.
12. Photocopy of email sent by I.C.I.C.I. Bank Customer Care dated 19th October, 2022.
13. Photocopy of email sent by the Complainant dated 20th October, 2022.
14. Photocopy of email sent by I.C.L.C.I. Bank Customer Care dated 16th November, 2022.
15. Photocopy of the information collected from the CIBIL Website.
Notice was issued from this Commission for serving the same to the OPs. But despite receiving notice none appears before this Commission on the side of the OPs to contest the case. Accordingly the case is taken up for ex-parte hearing.
Having heard the Ld. Advocate of complainant and on careful perusal of complaint, documents filed by the complainant the following points are taken to be decided by this Commission.
POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION
- Whether the Complainant is a Consumer as per the provision of C.P. Act.?
- Whether the case is maintainable in its present form and prayer under the provision of the C.P. Act. ?
- Whether there is any cause of action to file this case by the Complainant?
- Whether there was deficiency in service on the part of the OPs as alleged by the Complainant?
- Is the Complainant has able to prove this case and entitled to get any relief as prayed for?
DECISION WITH REASONS
All the points are taken up together for discussion to avoid unnecessary repetition and for sake of convenience and brevity of this case.
In order to prove the case the complainant was given liberty to produced its evidence. To prove the case the complainant himself has adduced evidence in the form of an affidavit. In the written deposition the complainant has specifically corroborated the entire statements so made by him in his written complaint. In the deposition the complainant has specifically stated that though he made an application with the OP’s for getting credit card but he never received any credit card from the OP’s. The complainant himself has also stated in his evidence that, as no credit card is received by him at any point of time the use of the card/swipe of the card/ purchased of any goods does not arise at all. The complainant in his written evidence has also stated that, subsequently he received two messages from his Bank as if he by using credit card purchased goods worth of Rs. 55,000/- + Rs. 4,700/- though he does not have any such credit card. It is also stated by the complainant in his written evidence that, on several occasions he made communications with the OP’s in writing as well as thorough e-mail ventilating by his grievance but the OP’s have paid no heed to that.
At the time of hearing of argument Ld. Advocate of the complainant submits that, they have already filed written notes of argument and stated everything there. Ld. Advocate also argued that, the complainant has been able to prove the case against the OP’s to the effect that, there was/ is deficiency of service as well as unfair trade practice on the part of the OP’s Ld. Advocate of the complainant further argued that, the OP’s have not supplied any documents to show that, the OP’s had delivered credit card to the complainant. He also argued that, the complainant through his written communications asked the OP’s to produce any documents to prove the fact of delivery of credit card to the complainant and also asked the OP’s to produce documents about the particulars of goods allegedly purchased by the complainant by using/swiping credit card but the OP’s are not able to give any reply to that effect. Ld. Advocate of the complainant praying for necessary order in this regard.
Having heard the Ld. Advocate of complainant and on perusal of the written complaint, evidence, written notes of argument and documents of the complainant it reveals that, since the inception of the dispute the complainant made written communication with the OP’s ventilating his grievance but no steps had yet been taken on the side of the OP’s. From the documents of the complainant it reveals that the complainant has disclosed the OP’s that, the courier boy of the OP’s never delivered any credit card to the complainant but the OP’s have not taken any initiative to ascertain as to whether the grievance of the complainant is genuine or not.
From the documents which are submitted by the complainant it reveals that, the OP’s are claiming that the complainant had purchased goods by using the credit card but they did not produce any evidence to show either the complainant had received the credit card or the complainant had purchased anything by using/swiping the credit card. On the other hand the complainant has been able to prove the fact that, the OP ICICI Bank Ltd. put the name of the complainant as defaulter in the CIBIL website which is showing that, a sum of Rs. 1,14,518/- was/is due from the complainant against the overdue of a sum of Rs. 87,640/- and the said act of the OP’s are nothing but unfair trade practice as it is evident that, the complainant had neither received any credit card nor there was any scope to use/swipe any credit card as alleged by the OP’s.
It is needless to mention here that, the complainant has been able to prove the fact that, the complainant is/was not legally liable to pay the claim of the OP’s and due to the act of the OP’s the credit score of the complainant has been lowered down and therefore the complainant has suffered mental pain, agony, harassment as no financial institution or bank are giving any loan to the complainant due to his low credit score.
Considering the unchallenged evidence of the complainant and considering the documents which are annexed with the complaint we are of the view that, the complainant has been able to prove the case against all the OP’s who are jointly and severally liable to pay the awarded amount to the complainant as the complainant has also been able to prove that, there was deficiency of service on the part of the OP’s.
Hence, it is therefore,
O R D E R E D
That, the instant consumer case being in No. 132/2023 is hereby allowed on ex-parte against the OP’s but in part. The OP’s are directed to remove the name of the complainant from the CIBIL website. The OP’s are also directed to provide No Dues Certificate to the complainant after removing the name of the complainant from the CIBIL website as defaulter. The OP’s are also directed to pay a sum of Rs. 50,000/- to the complainant for causing mental pain, agony, deficiency of service as well as unfair trade practice by the OP’s.
The OP’s are also directed to pay a sum of Rs. 10,000/- to the complainant towards cost of legal proceeding. The OP’s are further directed to pay a sum of Rs. 10,000/- in the Consumer Legal Aid Account of this Commission.
The OP’s are directed to obey the direction of this Commission within 45 days from this day by removing the name of the complainant from the CIBIL website and by issuing No dues Certificate in favour of the complainant and by making payment of the awarded amount otherwise the OP’s will have to pay a sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- to the complainant towards punitive damages in addition to the other awarded amount in default the complainant will have the liberty to take steps against the OP’s as per law.
If this type of punitive damage is not imposed against the wrong doer it will send a wrong signal not only to the family of the aggrieved person but also to the society at large and no one will get confidence to take shelter before any Consumer Commission in future.
Let a copy of order/judgment be given to the complainant free of cost.
