DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM,

PATIALA.

                             Consumer Complaint No.CC/16/442 of 24.10.2016

Bharpur Singh aged about 66 years son of Sh.Mela Singh resident of  village Dharonki, Tehsil Nabha, District Patiala.

                                                                   …………...Complainant

                                       Versus

1.       Max Life Insurance Company Limited Operation Center, Plot No.90-A, Udyog Vihar, Sector 18, Gurgaon-122002, Haryana India.

2.       Max Life Insurance Company Limited Registered Office: 3^rd Floor, 1 Dr.Jha Marg, Okhla, New Delhi-110020, India.

3.       Max Life Insurance Company Limited, Chandigarh through its Manager.

4.       Max Life Insurance Company Limited, Branch Office Ambedkar Market, Patiala Gate, Nabha through its branch manager.

5.       Axis Bank Ltd., Branch Office Amedkar Market, Patiala, Gate, Nabha, through its branch Manager.

6.       Amit Sharma son of Sh.Sukhdev Sharma employee of Axis Bank, Nabha.

                                                                   …………Opposite Parties

                                      Complaint under Section 12 of the

                                      Consumer Protection Act, 1986.

12.1.2017: Present:        None for the complainant.

 ORDER

                                       Sh. Bharpur Singh  has filed this complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act,1986 ( hereinafter referred to as the Act) against the Opposite Parties (hereinafter referred to as the O.Ps.) praying for the following reliefs:-

1. To reimburse/repay the amount of Rs.4,53,604/-(as a double amount of the invested amount i.e. Rs.2,26,802/-or in the alternative reimburse the amount of Rs.2,26,802/- alongwith interest @18% P.A. from the date of investment till actual realization
2. To pay Rs.1,00,000/-as compensatory costs
3. Rs.11000/- as litigation expenses.

2.                          In brief, the case of the complainant is that he is maintaining  saving bank account bearing No.098010100036333 with the Axis Bank Ltd. at Nabha. In the month of December,2012, he visited the bank when the employee of the Axis Bank, persuaded him to invest amount into Max Life Insurance Company, it being  single time investment and he would get double of the amount within three years on the invested amount or in the alternative  would get minimum 18% interest. On the allurement of OP no.6, he invested Rs.76,337.32 with the O.Ps.. OP No.6 got signed various blank papers from him and also obtained copies of his identity and residential proofs. The opposite party issued a life insurance policy in his favour . He received the policy document and kept the same in the safe custody. Thereafter, he received a letter from Max Life Insurance Company Limited for paying the next premium of the policy. He contacted OP no.4 regarding the said letter, who explained that the same was with regard to the payment of next premium of the policy. He requested OP no.6 for the refund of his money as he was incapable to pay the regular premium. On the assurance given by OP no.6, he gave all the policy documents alongwith letter to it, who got his signature on blank papers saying that he would got type a request letter for refund of amount, but no amount was refunded by the O.Ps. He again contacted OP no.6 and discussed about the refund of the amount who told that he sent the policy documents to Max Life Insurance Company, for the refund of the amount alongwith interest. After the lapse of 15 days he again visited the office of OP no.4. On the advice of Op no.4, he wrote a letter dated 1.3.2014 to OP no.1. He again visited office of OP no.4 and was advised to write a letter to OP no.3. However, during this process, the OPs again deducted Rs.75,232.66 from his saving bank account without taking his consent. At this, he again visited the office of OP no.4 and inquired the deduction of the said amount. The concerned executive of OP no.4 told that the policy purchased by him having a Auto Cut deduction of premium from the saving account, so the computer deducted the next premium amount from his account. He met Branch Manager of Op no.4 and was told that he had to pay three premiums against the policy plan, out of which two premiums have already been paid, and will get double  of the paid amount or will be entitled to get minimum interest @18%  P.A. on the invested amount. On the assurance given by Op no.4, he paid the third installment of Rs.75,232/- on 29.1.2015. As per the assertion of the OPs, the policy was to  mature in January,2016. However, no amount has been received by him till date. Again he received a letter dated 4.12.2015, regarding the payment of the amount of Rs.75,431/-.After receipt of the said letter, he approached OP no.4 but no heed was paid to his request and the O.Ps. flatly refused to refund his amount .The OPs are thus deficient in providing services and are liable to compensate him for the unnecessary harassment suffered by him.

3.                          None appeared on behalf of the complainant for addressing the arguments at the preliminary stage. We have gone through the record of the case, carefully.

4.                          The complainant has alleged that he had opted for the insurance policy having one time premium but the Ops instead of issuing the said policy issued him some other policy and asked him to pay yearly premium. However, in support of his contention, he has not placed on record the copy of the proposal form or policy document. Thus, in the absence thereof, it cannot be said that the  complainant had opted for the insurance policy having one time premium, but the Ops  issued him some other policy, instead of the one, which he had opted for. In the absence of policy document, it is not possible to ascertain, as to whether the complainant purchased a conventional policy or a unit linked policy. It is not out of place to mention here that in the complaint, the complainant has stated that he purchased the insurance policy from Max Life Insurance Company Limited and had received the policy documents. But he had not disclosed as to in which year he had purchased the policy in question and on which specific date, he had received the policy documents. However, from the perusal of renewal premium intimation letter dated 4.12.2015, Annexure C7, it is clear that the policy was issued on 3^rd January, 2013. It means, cause of action arose to the complainant on 3.1.2013 or immediately thereafter on the date when he received the policy documents. If the complainant was not satisfied with the policy issued by the Max Life Insurance Co.., then as per Section 24A of the Act, he could have filed the complaint before this Forum, within two years from the date on which the cause of action had arisen. In the present case, the cause of action had arisen in the year 2013, whereas the complainant had filed the instant complaint on 24.10.2016 i.e. after the expiry of the prescribed period of two years.

5.                          Taking aforesaid facts & circumstances into consideration, we are of the view that the present complaint deserves to be dismissed. Consequently, we dismiss the same in limine, without any order as to costs. Certified copy of the order be sent to the complainant free of cost under the Rules. Thereafter, the file be indexed and consigned to the Record Room.

DATED:12.1.2017

                                      NEELAM GUPTA                  NEENA SANDHU

                                           Member                                    President