Before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Rohtak.
Complaint No. : 104.
Instituted on : 13.02.2017.
Decided on : 27.09.2019.
Raj Singh s/o Sh. Hari Sing, resident of village-Makroli Kalan, Tehsil and District Rohtak.
………..Complainant.
Vs.
- ICICI Lombard General Insurance company Ltd., Office at -2nd Floor, Appu Garh, Shopping complex, SCF-35, Improvement Trust, Scheme-19, Civil Road, Pin code-124001, through its Branch Manager, Rohtak.
- State Bank of India, branch Code-1766, Phone01262-238438, Hisar Road Branch, Rohtak.
……….Opposite parties.
COMPLAINT U/S 12 OF CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT,1986.
BEFORE: SH.NAGENDER SINGH KADIAN, PRESIDENT.
DR. RENU CHAUDHARY, MEMBER.
MS. TRIPTI PANNU, MEMBER.
Present: Sh.M.K.Vaid, Advocate for the complainant.
Sh. Yogesh Sharma, Advocate for the opposite party No.1.
Ms. Loveleen Gupta, Advocate for opposite party No.2.
ORDER
NAGENDER SINGH KADIAN, PRESIDENT:
1. Brief facts of the case are that the complainant has agriculture land measuring almost six Acres and in the month of August, 2016 the complainant cropped three types of crop i.e. crop of Dhaan, Baajra, baadi(Kapaas) in his field and the same was insured with the opposite party under the policy of PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna) through State Bank of India and the date of premium deduction is 02.08.2016. That at the time of harvesting the crops, all the crops were damaged due to heavy rain. That complainant sent the information of damage to the opposite party immediately on 09.09.2016 and also submitted the claim intimation form duly signed with all relevant documents with the opposite party on 09.09.2016. That a verification report of present Sarpanch of the complainant’s village regarding molder of three crops of the complainant with written request submitted to the insurance company by the complainant. That complainant visited the office of opposite party several times for payment of claim amount but they flatly refused to pay the claim on 19.01.2017. That the act of opposite parties is illegal and there is deficiency in service on the part of opposite parties. As such, it is prayed that opposite parties may kindly be directed to pay the compensation of Rs.300000/- as damages of crops alongwith Rs.150,000/- as damages for unnecessary harassment and Rs.15000/- as litigation expenses to the complainant.
2 After registration of complaint, notice was issued to the opposite parties. Opposite party No.1 in its reply has submitted that till date the complainant has not provided any documentary proof regarding his land and loss of the crop. That any loss intimated after 48 hours cannot be entertained as per the insurance policy terms and conditions of scheme of PMFBY in which the captioned KCC is covered. That complainant has not disclosed any time and date of loss in the claim petition. The complainant has also not provided any survey report regarding loss and any other proof to prove the damages of the alleged crops. That the complainant should have approached to DAC & FW(Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare) department for any kind of grievances related to scheme or claim, but the complainant has filed the complaint before this Forum which cannot be adjudicated.. That there is no deficiency in service on the part of answering opposite party and dismissal of complaint has been sought.
3. Opposite party No.2 in its reply has submitted that complainant himself has admitted that he has submitted the claim form and relevant documents with the insurance company and as such the answering respondent has no concern with the payment of amount of claim. That the complainant has not informed the answering respondent about damage to the crop. That an amount of Rs.11802.99 on account of damage to crop was received from the insurance company and the same has been credited to the loan account of the complainant on 12.09.2017 and an amount of Rs.48490/- on account of damage to crop was received from the insurance company and same has been credited to the loan account of complainant on 26.09.2017. The complainant has no cause of action to file the present complaint against the answering respondent That answering opposite party has no concern with payment of compensation because the same is to be paid by the respondent no.1. That there is no deficiency in service on the part of answering opposite party and dismissal of complaint has been sought.
4. Ld. counsel for the complainant in his evidence has tendered affidavit Ex.CW1/A, documents Ex.C1 to Ex.C10 and has closed his evidence on dated 31.05.2019. Ld. counsel for the opposite party No.1 has tendered affidavit Ex.R1 and closed his evidence on 22.08.2019. Ld. counsel for the opposite party no.2 has tendered affidavit Ex.RW2/A, document Ex.R2/1 and closed his evidence.
5. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through material aspects of the case very carefully.
6. In the present complaint, the complainant pleaded that he has suffered loss in his 40 kanal i.e. 5 acres of agricultural land. He sown Dhaan crops in his fields and the same was insured with the opposite party No.1 under the policy of PMFBY (Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojna) through opposite party no.2 i.e. State Bank of India. The complainant is having a KCC A/c with the respondent no.2 through which his land was hypothecated with the bank and as per copy of statement of account Ex.C2, an amount of Rs.2149/- + Rs.389.51 was deducted from his account on account of the insurance of crops. Due to ‘Heavy rain’ the complainant’s crops damaged. Copy of Nakal Jamabandi Ex.C3 is also placed on record.
7. Complainant has filed claim intimation form Ex.C1, as per which, the crop insured is Paddy + Bajra and the total land is 6 acres and has applied for compensation and sent applications Ex.C6 & Ex.C7 through Sarpanch Gram Panchayat, Makrauli Kalan to the opposite parties for payment of loss but the same has not been paid by the opposite parties till date. As per copy of certificate Ex.C6 & Ex.C7 issued by the Sarpanch of village Makrouli Kalan, Tehsil & Distt. Rohtak, it is submitted that due to heavy rain in the village, all his crops destroyed. As per application filed by the complainant for producing the property land detail, the complainant has suffered loss in 5 acres of land i.e. 4 acre for paddy crops and 1 acre of bajra crops.
8. Hence from the documents placed on record, it is established that the complainant’s crop of 5 acre was damaged due to ‘Heavy Rain’. As such, complainant is entitled for loss suffered by him in 5 acre of land i.e. 4 acres for paddy and one acre for bajra. As per document ‘Annexure-JN’, the sum insured for paddy is Rs.62500/- per hectare i.e. to say Rs.25000/- per acre and Rs.27500/- per hectare for bajra i.e. Rs.11000/- per acre. The complainant has suffered loss in 5 acres. Accordingly he is entitled for the loss of Rs.100000/- for 4 acres for paddy and Rs.11000/- for one acre for bajra i.e. total Rs.110000/-. As per affidavit filed by the opposite party No.2 Ex.RW2/A and statement of account Ex.R2/1, an amount of Rs.11802.99 and Rs.48490/- has already been received by the opposite party No.2 on account of compensation towards damage to crops of complainant on 12.09.2017 and 26.09.2017 respectively and the same has been adjusted towards the loan amount of complainant. Hence the same would be deducted from the alleged loss amount.
9. In view of the facts and circumstances of the case, we hereby allow the complaint and direct the opposite party no.1 to pay Rs.110000/- less Rs.60293/- i.e. to pay Rs.49707/-(Rupees forty nine thousand seven hundred and seven only) towards loss of crops alongwith interest @ 9% p.a. from the date of filing the present complaint i.e.07.06.2017 till its realization and also to pay a sum of Rs.3000/-(Rupees three thousand only) as compensation on account of deficiency in service and Rs.3000/-(Rupees three thousand only) as litigation expenses to the complainant within one month from the date of decision.
7. Copy of this order be supplied to both the parties free of costs. File be consigned to the record room after due compliance.
Announced in open court:
27.09.2019.
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Nagender Singh Kadian, President
……………………………….
Renu Chaudhary, Member.
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Tripti Pannu, Member.
