BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, SIRSA.
Consumer Complaint no. 605 of 2019.
Date of Institution : 09.10.2019.
Date of Decision : 02.03.2023.
Mahender Narayan son of Shri Bhura Ram, resident of village Chakkan, Tehsil Rania, District Sirsa.
Versus.
1. Oriental Insurance Company, Janta Bhawan Road, Anaj Mandi Sirsa.
2. HDFC Bank Ltd., through its Branch Manager, Branch Janta Bhawan Road, Sirsa, District Sirsa, Haryana.
...…Opposite parties.
Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act,1986 (as amended under Section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019).
Before: SH. PADAM SINGH THAKUR……………………PRESIDENT
MRS.SUKHDEEP KAUR………………………….MEMBER.
SH. OM PARKASH TUTEJA……………………..MEMBER
Present: Sh. Mukesh Arya, Advocate for complainant.
Sh. K.L. Gagneja, Advocate for opposite party No.1.
Sh. M.S. Sethi, Advocate for opposite party no.2.
ORDER
The complainant has filed the present complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (as after amendment under Section 35 of Consumer Protection Act, 2019) against the opposite parties (hereinafter referred to as Ops).
2. In brief, the case of complainant is that he is farmer by profession and is having 43 kanals 12 marlas land in Khewat No. 249, Khatuni No. 323 and Killa Nos. 7//8 (7-0) 10 (8-0) 11 (8-0) 13/1 (5-1) 20 (8-0), 21/1 (7-11) situated in the revenue estate of village Bhuna, District Sirsa. He is also having his Kisan Credit Card account with op no.2 bank bearing account No. 50200021594561. It is further averred that on 31.07.2018 premium amount of Rs.3356/- was deducted from the said account of complainant by op no.1 bank for insuring cotton crop of Kharif, 2018 with the insurance company which was mandatory as per notification of Government of India. That in this way the cotton crop of complainant of 2018 in 43 kanals 12 marlas of land was got insured by op no.1 through op no.2 and as the premium was deducted by op no.1 on the cutoff date so complainant got confirmed the factum of insurance of his crop from op no.1 bank and it was assured to him that his premium has been deposited with op no.2. It is further averred that cotton crop of complainant of 2018 season was damaged and other farmers of village Bhuna, District Sirsa have received insurance claims at the rate of Rs.12,500/- per acre but complainant did not receive any such claim. That complainant approached the ops and requested them to pay the insurance claim a number of times but in vain. It is further averred that at last complainant upon non receipt of the aforesaid claim got registered a complaint against the ops on the C.M. Window and thereafter the record pertaining to the said claim was checked wherein it was found that due to the negligence of the ops, the insured crop estate was recorded as Budhabhana instead of Bhuna whereas complainant had produced jamabandi showing his land in village Bhuna which clearly amounts to negligence and deficiency in service on the part of ops and complainant has suffered unnecessary harassment and mental agony. That complainant is entitled to claim amount of Rs.68,125/- alongwith interest besides compensation for harassment and litigation expenses. Hence, this complaint.
3. On notice, opposite parties appeared. OP no.1 filed written statement raising certain preliminary objections regarding non intimation, non submission of proof of loss or weather report, limited coverage as per scheme, yield basis are decided by the Government, no survey no quantification of loss, no privity of contract, non impleading of necessary parties and jurisdiction etc. On merits, it is submitted that op no.1 used to do the insurance of crop on the information supplied by the Bank i.e. op no.2 and there is no direct contract in between complainant and op no.1 as the present crop insurance is done under the group insurance scheme as per terms and conditions of PMFBY. It is further submitted that answering op had never received the premium for the insurance of the crop in the land of complainant situated in village Bhuna and same was not insured with answering op. The complainant is not entitled to any compensation or any interest from answering op. The farmers whose land particulars were uploaded on the portal were paid the amount of claim without any delay. It is further submitted that nodal Bank HDFC Bank Ltd. is negligent and responsible for the loss, if any suffered by complainant. The answering op cannot be penalized for the negligence of op no.2. It is further submitted that banker of complainant has uploaded the name of the village Budha Bhana in place of Bhuna on the National Crop Insurance Portal and did not make any effort to rectify the mistake and to correct the name of village in the Portal before the closure of the portal. After the closure of the portal no correction can be made. No loss of crop in the area of village Budha Bhana was reported or registered with any of the agency under PMFBY, so the answering op is not liable to pay any claim for loss of crop or any compensation to the complainant. Remaining contents of complaint are also denied and prayer for dismissal of complaint qua op no.1 made.
4. Op no.2 also filed written statement taking certain preliminary objections. On merits, it is submitted that amount of premium for insurance has been debited from the account of complainant on 31.07.2018 for the amount of Rs.3556.80 and transferred the said amount to Oriental Insurance Company op no.1 for insurance of the crops of complainant under PMFBY. The insurance company has not raised any objection and accepted the premium for insurance of the crop of complainant. Hence, it is presumed that the crops of complainant have been fully insured, hence insurance company is liable to compensate the complainant regarding any loss caused to the complainant. It is further submitted that if insurance company has not insured the crops of complainant then it was their duty to refund the amount of insurance premium. In case they have not refunded the premium, it means that they have accepted the premium and are liable to compensate. It is further submitted that after acceptance of premium, the matter of claim etc. is between the insurance company and the farmer. That as per clause 19 (XXII) of Haryana Govt. Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Department Notification No. 941-Agri- II(I)- 2018/ 4332 dated 30.03.2018, the Insurance Company shall verify the data of insured farmers pertaining to area insured, area sown, address, bank account number (KYC) as provided by the banks independently on its own cost within two months of the cutoff date and in case of any correction must report to the State Govt. failing which no objection by the Insurance Company at a later stage will be entertained and it will be binding on the Insurance Company to pay the claim. It is further submitted that there is no negligence on the part of answering op and after acceptance of the premium it is the duty of insurance company to visit the spot. Remaining contents of complaint are also denied and prayer for dismissal of complaint qua op no.2 made.
5. The complainant has tendered his affidavit Ex. CW1/A and copies of documents i.e. jamabandi for the year 2016-2017 Ex. C1, pass book Ex. C2, adhar card Ex.C3, statement of account Ex.C4 and Khasra Girdawari Ex.C5.
6. On the other hand, op no.1 has tendered affidavit of Sh. Virender Kumar, Sr. Divisional Manager as Ex.R1 and relevant clauses of PMFBY Ex. R2 to Ex.R7 and minutes of the meeting held on 14.01.2021 Ex.R8.
7. Op no.2 has tendered affidavit of Sh. Saurabh Mehta, Assistant Manager & Principal Officer as Ex.R9 and statement of account Ex.R10.
8. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the case file carefully.
9. The complainant has claimed insurance claim for the damage of his cotton crop of Kharif, 2018 in 43 kanals 12 marlas of agricultural land situated in the revenue estate of village Bhuna, District Sirsa. But however, the perusal of copy of the khasra girdawari for the year 2018-2019 Ex.C5 reveals that complainant sown cotton crop in 23 kanals of agricultural land in Kharif, 2018. So, the complainant has wrongly claimed insurance claim for the damage of cotton crop in whole of agricultural land measuring 43 kanals 12 marlas. Further more, the complainant has not proved on record the damage to his cotton crop in said 23 kanals of land through any cogent and convincing evidence. He has not placed on file any report of the Agriculture Department to prove the damage to his cotton crop of Kharif, 2018 in said 23 kanals of land. Though complainant has alleged that other farmers of his village Bhuna have already received claim amount for the damage to their cotton crop of Kharif, 2018 but complainant has also failed to prove on record that any farmer of his village has received claim amount for the damage of his cotton crop in Kharif, 2018 as complainant has not placed on file any proof/ copy of bank pass book of any farmer that he has already received claim amount. So, there is nothing to file to prove the damage to the cotton crop of complainant in Kharif, 2018 in his agricultural land situated in village Bhuna, District Sirsa. As such complainant is not entitled to any insurance claim amount in this regard from any of the ops and complaint of the complainant deserves dismissal.
10. In view of our above discussion, we do not find any merit in the present complaint and same is hereby dismissed but with no order as to costs. A copy of this order be supplied to the parties as per rules. File be consigned to the record room.
Announced: Member Member President,
Dated: 02.03.2023. District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission, Sirsa.
