BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, AMBALA.
Complaint Case No.:495 of 2010
Date of Institution : 30.11.2010
Date of decision : 31.03.2016
Satbir Singh Sondhi S/o Manjeet Singh R/o B-2, Mahesh Nagar near Handa Flour Mill, Ambala Cantt.
……Complainant
Versus
1. ICICI Bank Limited, SCO 180-182, Sector-9C, Chandigarh.
2. ICICI Bank Limited, near Aggarsen Chowk, Ambala City. ……Opposite Parties
Complaint Under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act.
CORAM: SH. A.K. SARDANA, PRESIDENT.
SH. PUSHPINDER KUMAR, MEMBER.
Present: Sh. Rakesh Achint, Adv. counsel for complainant.
Sh. A.K. Kaushik, Adv. counsel for Ops.
ORDER.
Brief facts of the present complaint are that the complainant was availing Credit Card Facility vide account No.4477474122584009 with the OP Bank and making the payments regularly as per use but on 20.12.2008, complainant received a letter from OP No.1 demanding Rs.29112.67 NP as outstanding dues of the said account whereas OP No.2 made a full and final settlement qua the said amount vide letter dated 24.10.2007 for Rs.22200/- and accordingly, complainant deposited the same vide cheque No.173421 dated 24.10.2007 of Rs.11100/- and cheque No.173423 dated 28.11.2007 of Rs.11100/- which were cleared on 01.11.2007 & 01.12.2007 respectively to the Op’s Credit Card Account of the complainant. So, the complainant approached the OP No.2 for issuance of No Dues Certificate in his favour but the Op did not issued the same inspte of various assurances rather told that when the cheques have already been credited in Bank’s account & statement of Saving Bank is with you then there is no need of NDC. Therefore, the demand of Ops vide letter dated 20.12.2008 was patently illegal but surprisingly, the Ops withdrew the amount of Rs.29112/- on 25.06.2010 from Saving Account of the complainant on account of credit card dues. Thus the complainant has contended that the Ops have grabbed his money and harassed him mentally as well as physically which is a deficiency in service on the part of Ops. Hence, the present complaint seeking relief as per prayer clause has been preferred by the complainant before the Forum.
2. Upon notice, Ops appeared through counsel and filed written statement raising preliminary objections qua non-maintainability of complaint, concealment of true facts and no locus standi etc.. On merits, it has been urged that Ops issued a letter dated 24.10.2007 to the complainant mentioning that “In view of exceptional circumstances as explained by you, we confirm the acceptance of Rs.22200/-(twenty two thousand and two hundred only) towards full and final settlement of the above mentioned card account by cash/cheque in one installment. The above full and final settlement is being granted on one time basis without setting any precedent and timely payment is essence of this settlement offered to you”. But the complainant did not pay the amount in one installment rather manipulated the receipt on the letter just to take the benefit of settlement letter dated 24.10.2007, however, the cheques No.173421 & 173423 handed over to the Ops on 01.11.20107 & 01.12.2007 respectively and the same were debited to the saving account of the complainant maintained with the Ops Bank on 01.11.2007 & 01.12.2007 respectively. So, the settlement letter dated 24.10.2007 lost its utility when the payment was not made in one installment. It has been further contended by the Ops that they sent letter dated 20.12.2008 to the complainant demanding Rs.29112.67NP but he did not bother to deposit the same and as such, the amount was withdrawn from the account of complainant on 25.06.2010. Rest of the contents of complaint have been denied and prayed for dismissal of complaint with costs.
3. To prove his case, counsel for complainant tendered affidavit of complainant as Annexure CX alongwith documents as Annexures C-1 to C-39 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 & R-2 and closed the evidence on behalf of Ops.
4. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and gone through the record very carefully. In nutshell, the case of the complainant is that he deposited Rs.22200/- as outstanding dues towards his Credit Card Account with Ops Bank vide cheques No.173421 & 173423 of Rs.11100/- each in terms of settlement letter dated 24.10.2007 ( Annexure C-2) and to prove this factum he has placed on record credit card statements dated 28.10.2007 & 28.11.2007 respectively (Annexures C-9 & C-10) whereby the said amounts have been shown as received by the Op bank vide cheques. Besides it, complainant has also placed on record statement of Saving Bank Account of complainant with OP bank pertaining to period ranging from 01.06.2007 to 10.07.2010 (Annexure C-3) wherein it reveals that the OP bank has also withdrawn an amount of Rs.29112.67NP on 25.06.2010 from the saving bank account no.23301509327 of complainant in respect of demand raised by the bank vide letter dated 20.12.2008 which as per complainant is a grabbing of money by OP Bank and amounts to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on the part of Ops whereas on the other hand, the contention of Ops is that as per settlement letter dated 24.10.2007 (Annexure C-2), the amount of Rs.22200/- was to be paid by complainant in one installment either in cash or by cheque but the complainant himself violated the terms of the settlement and made the payment in two installments, hence, the settlement not succeeded in its letter & spirit and thus the demand of Rs.29112.67NP was raised from the complainant vide letter dated 20.12.2008 which is legal and therefore, OP bank is not deficient in any way.
5. After hearing learned counsel for the parties and going through the documents Annexures C-1, C-2, C-3, C-9 & C-10 respectively, it emerges that as per settlement dated 24.10.2007 arrived at between complainant and OP Bank, complainant had to pay Rs.22200/- in one installment either in cash or by cheque but complainant paid the same vide 2 cheques bearing no.173421 dated 24.10.2007 and 173423 dated 28.11.2007 which were encashed by OP bank on 01.11.2007 & 01.12.2007 respectively against credit card dues through saving bank account of the complainant as clearly mentioned in Account Statement ( Annexure C-3) and thereafter the Op Bank again encashed/withdrawn Rs.29112/-.67NP on 25.06.2010 against credit card account no.4477474122584009 of complainant from saving bank account of complainant as shown in account statement (Annexure C-3). This shows that the OP Bank has withdrawn the credit card dues of the complainant twicely from the saving bank account of the complainant under the garb of non-deposit of settlement amount in one installment by the complainant which is admittedly a deficiency in service on the part of Ops. Further, if the complainant had violated the terms of settlement by not paying the outstanding credit card dues in one installment, then the OP bank instead of getting encashed these cheques, ought to have returned the same to the complainant and had withdrawn the amount from saving bank account of complainant as a sum of Rs.1,01,590/- was lying balance in the said account of complainant on 24.10.2007 as clear from the account statement ( Annexure C-3). Therefore, 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 the complainant. As such, we have no option except to allow the present complaint. 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:-
- To refund a sum of Rs.29112.67NP to the complainant alongwith simple interest @ 9% per annum w.e.f. 25.06.2010 to till its realization.
- Also to pay a sum of Rs.5,000/- as litigation charges including the Advocate’s fee.
Further, the aforesaid order /directions issued above must be complied with by the Ops within the stipulated period otherwise all the aforesaid awarded amounts shall fetch further simple interest @ 12% 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:31.03.2016 Sd/-
(A.K. SARDANA)
PRESIDENT
Sd/-
(PUSHPENDER KUMAR)
MEMBER
