Punjab

Ludhiana

CC/20/208

Ankush Garg - Complainant(s)

Versus

ICICI Bank Ltd - Opp.Party(s)

Munish Gupta

22 Nov 2023

ORDER

DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, LUDHIANA.

                                                Complaint No:208 dated 29.09.2020.                                                         Date of decision: 22.11.2023.

 

Ankush Garg aged 26 years son of Shri Sunil Kumar Garg, resident of House No.2277, Gobind Nagar, Near Hotel Onn, University Road, Ludhiana.                                                                                                      ..…Complainant

                                                Versus

1. ICICI Bank Ltd., ICICI Phone Banking Centre, ICICI Bank Tower, 7^th Floor, Survey No.115/27, Plot No.12, Nanakramguda, Serilingampally, Hyderabad-500032.
2. ICICI Bank Ltd., Feroze Gandhi Market, Ludhiana through its Manager.                                                                        …..Opposite parties 

Complaint Under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

QUORUM:

SH. SANJEEV BATRA, PRESIDENT

SH. JASWINDER SINGH, MEMBER

MS. MONIKA BHAGAT, MEMBER

 

COUNSEL FOR THE PARTIES:

For complainant             :         Sh. Munish Gupta, Advocate.

For OPs                          :         Sh. Alok Mohindra, Advocate.

 

ORDER

PER SANJEEV BATRA, PRESIDENT

1.                Shorn of unnecessary details, the facts of the case are that the complainant after going through online advertisement having the benefit and features especially the benefit “No limit to the earnings from this card”, opted to get Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card. The OPs issued card No.4315810737179006 vide which the complainant became an Amazon Prime Customer with credit limit of Rs.63,000/-. The complainant claimed to have used this credit card in the month of December and January 2020 by making purchase worth Rs.21,17,364/- regarding which OPs awarded him reward points for a sum of Rs.1,05,863/-. The complainant further made purchase worth Rs.6,88,000/- and he was awarded reward points of Rs.34,400/- and transferred these earnings to Amazon Pay  Balance reflected from statement dated 28.02.2020. However, the OPs blocked the credit card of the complainant without giving any prior intimation, letter or reason. Even the complainant had to pay Rs.63,000/- to the OPs after they blocked the card. According to the complainant, the OPs have never represented that there is any high value or large transactions nor they issued any show cause notice or warning or sent any message to this effect whereby the OPs could have ever categorized the transactions made by the complainant to be commercial/business purposes. Moreover, the OPs did not transfer the amount of Rs.34,400/- into his Amazon Pay Balance account and even blocked his credit card by withholding the reward points earned by him by paying hefty amounts due to which the complainant fell into troubles as he was using the said credit card for the purpose of earning his livelihood by means of self employment. The complainant further stated that he vide telephonic conversation to the officials of the OPs on customer helpline No.18001020123 who assured the complainant that the reward points shall be given to him. Even the officials of the OPs assured that the matter is under process. The complainant received text message from OPs on 17.03.2019 stating that it is observed that Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card of the complainant is being used for commercial/business purpose and that as per T&C, company would be holding back the reward points for February 2020 statement and the card of the OPs will be blocked for further use. The complainant again approached customer care number of the OPs but no satisfactory reply was received. The complainant claimed that withholding of said amount of Rs.34,400/- and blocking the credit card is illegal, arbitrary etc. which amounts to deficiency in service. The OPs have no right to withhold the amount of the complainant and block his card. The terms and conditions governing Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card last updated on 23.01.2020 there is no such clause of commercial/business transaction. Moreover, the OPs were legally bound to issue the letter, show cause notice or any prior intimation to the complainant not to do high volume of transactions by intimating that these will be treated as commercial/business transactions not entitled for reward points. No such step was followed by the OPs. Thus the complainant has suffered financial loss of Rs.34,400/- which he is legally entitled to recover from the OPs.  The complainant served a legal notice dated 30.07.2020 upon the OPs but to no avail. Hence this complaint, whereby the complainant prayed to direct the OPs to refund the amount of Rs.34,400/- with interest and compensation of Rs.1,00,000/- besides litigation expenses of Rs.21,000/-. 

2.                Upon notice, the OPs filed written statement and assailed the complaint by taking preliminary objections on the ground of maintainability of complaint; concealment of material facts; the complainant being estopped by her act and conduct; the complainant has proper remedy to approach the Civil court etc. The OPs averred that the credit card was issued in favour of the complainant for her personal use and not for business or commercial purpose whatsoever as per the terms and conditions of the grant of credit card and he was fully aware of the terms and conditions for the grant of the credit card as he had agreed and accepted that he has read and understood the terms and conditions.          

                   On merits, the OPs averred that the complainant online applied for Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card on 23.12.2019 which was issued to him on the same day and he accepted the terms and conditions of the car at that time. The complainant was issued the credit card No.4315810737179006 having validity from 12/19 to 12/23. The OPs further stated that as per the terms of grant of said facilities, the card limit will be shared/combined with the existing card limit and no physical statements are to be sent to customers and only Email statements are required to be sent to the customers. For every transaction made by the customer/complainant at Amazon using Amazon Pay ICICI Card, Prime members will earn 5% for every transaction done and non-prime members will earn 03.% cash back, in terms of reward points and each reward point = one rupee, cash back/reward points will be credited to customer’s Amazon Pay Account within two days of bill generation. Moreover, as per terms and conditions the card is only for personal use and not for business purpose. Further, as per clause III (d) of the terms and conditions governing Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card dated 18.09.2019, it is clearly mentioned that "(d) The Card Member's right to use the Card shall determine forthwith: (i) In the event of termination pursuant to Clause V below; or (ii) in the event of loss /misuse or theft of Card." As per clause III (I) (ii) of the terms and conditions governing Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card dated 18.09.2019, it is clearly mentioned that (ii) The Credit Card is issued for personal expenses and purposes only. The Cardholder must not use the Credit Card to purchase anything for resale, for commercial or business purposes. The Credit Card should be used only for lawful, bona fide personal purposes and must not be used for any money laundering, anti-social or speculative activities or must not be exploited commercially in business (e.g. for working capital purposes)." As per clause III (m) of the terms and conditions governing Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card dated 18.09.2019, it is clearly mentioned that "(m) If the Credit Card is found to be used for prohibited, restricted, commercial purposes or any purposes as mentioned above, ICICI Bank may, at its sole discretion, exercise its right to close the concerned Credit Card and additional/add- on cards thereof, without any notice to the Cardholder. ICICI Bank has the right to enquire over phone or through other means of formal communication and seek details, information, proofs, etc. about the Credit Card transactions, pattern of usage etc. and the Cardholder is contractually bound to provide the information sought by ICICI Bank, from time to time. Non- satisfactory responses or no responses from the Cardholder may lead to blocking/closure of the Credit Card by ICICI Bank."

                   The OPs further stated that their rights regarding the termination of the services of the card are mentioned in the above said terms and conditions. That as per clause V (a) of the terms and conditions governing Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card dated 18.09.2019, it is clearly mentioned that (a) Breach: In the event of breach of any of these Terms and Conditions by any Card Member; (i) notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms and Conditions the Card Member will remain liable for any loss directly or indirectly resulting from such a breach; and (ii) The Card Member will be liable to pay ICICI Bank, upon demand, all amounts outstanding from the Card Member to ICICI Bank, whether due and payable to ICICI Bank at the date of such demand or not." The above said rights of termination of the services under the card are further elucidated as per clause V (b) (v) of the terms and conditions governing Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card dated 18.09.2019, it is clearly mentioned that "(v) ICICI Bank, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to, either temporarily or permanently, withdraw the privileges on the Card and/or cancel the Card at any time without giving any notice or assigning any reason therefore. In case of a temporary withdrawal, the privileges may be reinstated by ICICI Bank at its sole discretion. In case of a permanent withdrawal, ICICI Bank has a right to refuse membership to the Card Member permanently. However, it is made distinctly clear that withdrawal (temporary or permanent) shall constitute automatic withdrawal of all attendant benefits, privileges and services attached to the Card. In the event of such temporary or permanent withdrawal, the Card Member shall continue to be fully liable for all charges incurred on the Card prior to such withdrawal, together                                                   with all other applicable charges thereon, unless otherwise specified by ICICI Bank." Further, as per the terms and conditions dated 18.09.2019 the learning the grant of Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card, the complainant has absolutely no right to impose any false or otherwise liability upon the OPs on the basis of the alleged loss suffered by him. As per clause XI (g) of the terms and conditions governing Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card dated 18.09.2019, it is clearly mentioned that "XI-EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY-Without prejudice to the remedies available to ICICI Bank and these Terms, ICICI Bank shall be under no liability whatsoever to the Card Member in respect of any loss or damage arising directly or indirectly out of: g ) the exercise by ICICI Bank of its right to terminate any Card and the Card Account;." According to the OPs, the complainant cannot claim that he was not aware of the terms and conditions or any amendment thereof because the stipulation to the said regard have also been clearly mentioned in the above said terms and conditions dated 18.09.2019. As per clause XXXI of the terms and conditions governing Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card dated 18.09.2019, it is clearly mentioned that "XXXI. TERMS AND CONDITIONS-The Terms and Conditions for the Card shall be available on the ICICI Bank website. ICICI Bank shall have the absolute discretion to amend or supplement any of the Terms and Conditions, features and benefits offered on the Card including, without limitation to, changes which affect existing balances, interest charges or rates and methods of calculation at any time. The Card Member shall be liable for all charges incurred and all other obligations under these revised Terms and Conditions until all the amounts under the Card are repaid in full. ICICI Bank may communicate the amended Terms by hosting the same on the Infinity or in any other manner as decided by ICICI Bank. The Card Member shall be responsible for regularly reviewing these Terms and Conditions including amendments thereto as may be posted on the Infinity and shall be deemed to have accepted the amended Terms and Conditions by continuing to use the Card. Any change in the Terms and Conditions shall be communicated to the Card Member, in the manner as aforesaid, one month prior to the date of their implementation." As per the online application moved by the complainant for the grant of the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card and online exceptions on the terms and conditions governing the grant of the said card he has given certain declarations which are binding upon him and which clearly show that he has absolutely no right to file the present complaint. As per clause XXXIV of the terms and conditions governing Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card dated 18.09.2019, it is clearly mentioned that "(XXXIV. Declarations.1. Card Member declares that all the particulars and information while applying for the Card are true, correct, complete and up to date in all respects and Card Member has not withheld any information. Card Member confirms that Card Member has had no insolvency initiated against him nor has Card Member ever been adjudicated insolvent. Card Member has read the application form and brochures and am/are aware of all the terms/conditions of availing finance from ICICI Bank Limited. Card Member authorizes ICICI Bank Limited to make references and enquiries related to information in this application which, ICICI Bank Limited consider necessary. Card Member undertakes to inform ICICI Bank Limited regarding change in his/her residence/employment and to provide any further information that ICICI Bank Limited may require."

7. Card Member has understood these Terms and Conditions and MITC and agrees to abide by them. On perusal of the above said account of the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card, the OPs found that the said card was used for business purpose and high value transactions were made by the customer. As such, card was blocked by them and rewards points earned during the current month were withheld by following and in due compliance of the terms and conditions governing the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card. The said terms and conditions further show that the complainant has admittedly acted against the said terms and conditions and has committed blatant breach and violation of the same which has resulted in the blockage of the card. The OPs stated that the legal notice sent by the complainant was duly replied by them in which the facts were mentioned and thereafter there was absolutely no occasion for the complainant to file the present complaint. The OPs have denied that there is any deficiency of service and have also prayed for dismissal of the complaint.

3.                The complainant filed replication to the written statement reiterated the facts mentioned in the complaint and controverted those mentioned in the written statement.

4.                In support of his claim, the complainant tendered his affidavit Ex. CA in which he reiterated the allegations and the claim of compensation as stated in the complaint. The complainant also tendered documents Ex. C1 is the copy of Credit Card, Ex. C2 is the copy of Amazon Pay Credit Card Benefits and Features, Ex. C3 is the copy of statement of summary dated 28.01.2020, Ex. C4 is the copy of statement summary dated 28.02.2020, Ex. C5 is the copy of statement summary dated 27.03.2020, Ex. C6 is the copy of legal notice, Ex. C7 is the copy of postal receipt, Ex. C8 is the copy of terms and conditions of Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card and closed the evidence.

5.                On the other hand, counsel for the OPs tendered affidavit Ex. RW1/A of Sh. Dhiraj Kumar, Authorized Signatory of ICICI Bank Ltd., Feroze Gandhi Market, Ludhiana along with documents Ex.  R1 and Ex. R2 are the copies of terms and conditions of Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card, Ex. R3 is the copy of KYC certificate, Ex. R4 is the copy of email dated 23.12.2020 and closed the evidence.

6.                We have heard the arguments of the counsel for the parties and also gone through the complaint, replication, affidavit and annexed documents and written reply along with documents produced on record by both the parties.

7.                Admittedly, the complainant availed a credit card facility from the OPs vide Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card. The OPs is a banking financial institution and from time to time for augmenting its business, float different schemes and advertise the same vigorously through print, electronic and social media. They launched and advertised one such product in the name of Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card in collaboration with Amazon.in. Following benefits and features as depicted in Ex. C2 highlighted publically:-

          “Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card Benefits:-

• No joining fee or annual fee
• No limit to the earnings from this card
• No expiry date for your earnings
• Earnings can be used for purchasing 10 crore + products at
• Amazon.in and 100+ partner merchants

Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card Features:

• Earn 5% back on Amazon.in for Amazon Prime customers
• Earn 3% back on Amazon.in for non-Prime customers
• Earn 2% back on 100 + Amazon Pay Partner
• Merchants by using this card on Amazon Pay
• Earn 1% back on other payments

 

Bare perusal of this advertisement shows that no limit has been prescribed or highlighted in the advertisement. There was no recital in the advertisement  that the use of the card is restricted for bonafide personal use only or use of card for commercial or business purpose could entail its blocking or closure by the OPs. Further, prospective subscriber has not been advised to visit the website of the OPs for reading the terms and conditions of the agreement. Attracted and allured by the features and benefits of said product mentioned in publication(s), the complainant subscribed herself to said product and made transactions with the said credit card and earned rewards which were transferred to her account. The extract of transactions derived from the copies of the statements are given here under:-

                   Summary of statement dated 28.01.2020 (Ex. C3)

Previous balance	Purchases/ charges	Cash Advance	Payments/ Credits	Rewards earned	Rewards transferred
Rs.0.00	Rs.21,17,364.00	Rs.0.00	Rs.24,42,648.00	105863	105863

 

                   Summary of statement dated 28.02.2020 (Ex. C4)

Previous balance	Purchases/ charges	Cash Advance	Payments/ Credits	Rewards earned	Rewards transferred
Rs.3,25,284.00	Rs.6,88,000.000	Rs.0.00	Rs.3,00,000.00	34400	34400

 

                   Summary of statement dated 27.03.2020 (Ex. C5)                    

Previous balance	Purchases/ charges	Cash Advance	Payments/ Credits	Rewards earned	Rewards transferred
Rs.62,716.00	Rs.0.00	Rs.0.00	Rs.62,720.00	00	00

 

8.                From the above said transactions, it is evident the OPs were fully aware that such a large number of financial dealings involving huge amount in lacs are being transacted and apparently, these cannot be presumed to be for personal use of the cardholder. Still they were crediting and transferring reward points into the account of the complainant. 

9.                The counsel for the OPs has referred to various provisions of agreement Ex. R1 to which the complainant agreed to the clauses, which are reproduced as under:-

                   “III. Use of the Card

                   (d)     The Card Member’s right to use the Card shall determine forthwith: (i) In the event of termination pursuant to Clause V below; or (ii) in the event of loss/misuse or theft of Card.

                   (1)     ICICI Bank reserves the absolute discretion and liberty to decline or honour the authorization requests on the Card without assigning any reason. In certain cases, subject to its sole discretion, ICICI Bank may require the Card Member to contact ICICI Bank Customer Care Centre to authenticate the transaction before approving it and charging to the Card Account.

                   (i)      The Card Member agrees that he will not use the Card as payment for any illegal/unlawful purchases/purposes.

                   (ii)     The Credit Card is issued for personal expenses and purposes only. The Cardholder must not use the Credit Card to purchase anything for resale, for commercial or business purposes. The Credit Card should be used only for lawful, bonafide personal purposes and must not be used for any money laundering, anti-social or speculative activities or must not be exploited commercially in business (e.g. for working capital purposes).

                   (m) If the Credit Card is found to be used for prohibited, restricted, commercial purposes or any purposes as mentioned above, ICICI Bank may, at its sole discretion, exercise its right to close the concerned Credit Card and additional/add-on cards thereof, without any notice to the card holder. Non-satisfactory responses or no responses from the Cardholder may lead to blocking/closure of the Credit Card by ICICI Bank.

                   V. Breach & Termination/Withdrawal

                   (a) Breach: In the event of breach of any of these Terms and Conditions by any Card Member:

                   (i) notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms and Conditions the Card Member will remain liable for any loss directly or indirectly resulting from such a breach; and (ii) The Card Member will be liable to pay ICICI Bank, upon demand, a amounts outstanding from the Card Member to ICICI Bank, whether due and payable to ICICI Bank at the date of such demand or not.

                   (v) ICICI Bank, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to, either temporarily or permanently, withdraw the privilges on the Card and/or cancel the Card at any time without giving any notice or assigning any reason therefor. In case of a temporary withdrawal, the privileges may be reinstated by ICICI Bank at its sole discretion. In case of a permanent withdrawal, ICICI Bank has a right to refuse membership to the Card Member permanently. However, it is made distinctly clear that withdrawal (temporary or permanent) shall constitute automatic withdrawal of all attendant benefits, privileges and services attached to the Card. In the event of such temporary or permanent withdrawal, the Card Member shall continue to be fully liable for all charges incurred on the Card prior to such withdrawal, together                                                   with all other applicable charges thereon, unless otherwise specified by ICICI Bank.

XI.     Exclusion of Liability

Without prejudice to the remedies available to ICICI Bank and these Terms, ICICI Bank shall be under no liability whatsoever to the Card Member in respect of any loss or damage arising directly or indirectly out of: g ) the exercise by ICICI Bank of its right to terminate any Card and the Card Account.

XXXI.          Terms and Conditions

The Terms and Conditions for the Card shall be available on the ICICI Bank website. ICICI Bank shall have the absolute discretion to amend or supplement any of the Terms and Conditions, features and benefits offered on the Card including, without limitation to, changes which affect existing balances, interest charges or rates and methods of calculation at any time. The Card Member shall be liable for all charges incurred and all other obligations under these revised Terms and Conditions until all the amounts under the Card are repaid in full. ICICI Bank may communicate the amended Terms by hosting the same on the Infinity or in any other manner as decided by ICICI Bank. The Card Member shall be responsible for regularly reviewing these Terms and Conditions including amendments thereto as may be posted on the Infinity and shall be deemed to have accepted the amended Terms and Conditions by continuing to use the Card. Any change in the Terms and Conditions shall be communicated to the Card Member, in the manner as aforesaid, one month prior to the date of their implementation.

XXXIV. Declarations

1. Card Member declares that all the particulars and information while applying for the Card are true, correct, complete and up to date in all respects and Card Member has not withheld any information. Card Member confirms that Card Member has had no insolvency initiated against him nor has Card Member ever been adjudicated insolvent. Card Member has read the application form and brochures and am/are aware of all the terms/conditions of availing finance from ICICI Bank Limited. Card Member authorizes ICICI Bank Limited to make references and enquiries related to information in this application which, ICICI Bank Limited consider necessary. Card Member undertakes to inform ICICI Bank Limited regarding change in his/her residence/employment and to provide any further information that ICICI Bank Limited may require.

7. Card Member has understood these Terms and Conditions and MITC and agrees to abide by them.

The counsel for the OPs further contended that the complainant is bound by these terms and conditions. On the other hand, the counsel for the complainant refuted by stating that these conditions were never supplied to the complainant. These conditions are one sided and unreasonable and copy of the same was not supplied to the complainant even when the complainant received the physical delivery of the credit card.

10.              Perusal of conditions shows that the word “absolute discretion”, “sole discretion”, “without any notice” has been emphatically mentioned time and again which inevitably suggests bias against the cardholder. The conditions contained under head of “Use of Card” extend absolute privilege to the Ops only with regard to honouring of request for authorization, authentication of transactions and its right to prohibit, restrict transactions or to close the order without notice to the cardholder.

                   Further the stipulation under the head of “Breach & Termination/Withdrawal”, “Exclusion of Liability”   again it is the OPs who have been vested to take final call with regard to withdrawal of privileges/benefits of cardholder whether temporary or permanent, or to cancellation the card. Similarly, under the head of “Terms and Conditions”, the OPs have assumed unfettered liberty to amend and supplement the terms and conditions, features and benefits and further by exempted itself from communicating so amended terms and conditions to the cardholder.

                   The aforesaid terms and conditions are so stringent, harsh, unreasonable, one sided that empowers the OPs to actually terminate the agreement unilaterally and without reasonable cause and these further casts such obligations that puts the consumer like complainant to their disadvantage. These conditions are in gross violation of principles of natural justice, equity and good conscious as well. It is the basic canon of justice that no one can be condemned unheard. So there is an urgent need to protect the consumer and particularly to grant protection from the discretion of extensive introduction of standard terms of the contract which are one sided and have potential to seriously breach the consumer rights “as defined and guaranteed” Under Section 2(d) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. As such, the OPs cannot take the benefits of such terms and conditions embodied in the agreement Ex. R1 to deny the complainant of the benefits and privileges attracted to the card. 

11.              The OPs have induced the complainant to subscribe to the credit card by issuing misleading advertisement but his rights have also been prejudiced by these stringent one sided conditions of the agreement. Further the OPs had been honoring the transactions made by the complainant and had been crediting rewards in the account of the complainant. It is further strange that the OPs have issued another card to the complainant after taking cognizance of whole facts and circumstances. This amounts to adoption of unfair trade practice on the part of the OPs. As such, the OPs are not justified in blocking the card of the complainant and it would be just and appropriate if the OPs are directed to unblock the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card of the complainant and to reinstate all the attendant benefits, privileges and services attached to the card along with composite costs of Rs.15,000/- to the complainant.

12.              As a result of above discussion, the complaint is partly allowed with an order that the OPs are directed to unblock the Amazon Pay ICICI Bank Credit Card of the complainant and to reinstate all the attendant benefits, privileges and services attached to the card within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of order. The OPs shall further pay a composite cost of Rs.15,000/- (Rupees Fifteen Thousand only) to the complainant. Compliance of the above order be made within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of order Copies of order be supplied to parties free of costs as per rules.

13.              Due to huge pendency of cases, the complaint could not be decided within statutory period.

 

(Monika Bhagat)          (Jaswinder Singh)             (Sanjeev Batra)

Member                         Member                              President        

 

Announced in Open Commission.

Dated:22.11.2023.

Gobind Ram.