District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ,Faridabad.
Consumer Complaint No. 17/2022.
Date of Institution:06.01.2022
Date of Order:12.04.2023.
Vikas Rawat Aged 26 years, Son of Sh. Bharat Pal Singh, R/o House No. 436, gali no. 1, Arya Nagar, Mohna road, Ballabgarh Faridabad – 121004, Haryana.
Currently residing at; H no. 307, Sector 64, Faridabad, 121004.
…….Complainant……..
Versus
1. Policy bazaar.com Through its Directors/Manager/Authorized Person
2. Saurabh Vaid, The Customer Care Executive of Policy bazaar.com ,Employee Id; PW26044.
3. Abhishek Dubey, The Filed Executive of Poliybazaar.com, Employee Id; PW27979.
At their Registered Office;-
Plot No. 119, Sector 44,Gurugram, Haryana-122001
…Opposite parties
Complaint under section-12 of Consumer Protection Act, 1986
Now amended Section 34 of Consumer protection Act 2019.
BEFORE: Amit Arora……………..President
Mukesh Sharma…………Member.
Indira Bhadana………….Member.
PRESENT: Sh. Prashant Yadav, counsel for the complainant.
Sh. Kandarp yadav , counsel for opposite party No.1.
Opposite parties Nos.2 & 3 become proforma opposite party on date 16.08.2022.
ORDER:
The facts in brief of the complaint are that the Complainant was using one medical insurance policy bearing no. 215301/48/2021/1559 of the insurer Oriental Insurance from last 3-4 years continuously whose renewal date was 30 Oct of every Year. On 18.10.2021 i.e. on Monday at about 3 PM, the Complainant while returning back to home after completing his Court cases received a call on behalf of Respondent no.1 i.e. Policybazaar.com and the call was made by the Policybazaar.com sales executive/representative namely Saurabh Vaid (respondent no.2), Employee ID PW26044 asking the complainant regarding his interest in purchasing some Medical insurance policy or any other services from policybazaar. Replying to which the complainant told the respondent no.2 that he was interested in porting of his existing insurance policy bearing no. 215301/48/2021/1559 of the insurer Oriental Insurance into another medical insurance company and also told the respondent no. 2 that the complainant was willing to increase his sum insured value of Rs. 2 Lakhs to minimum of Rs. 5 Lakhs and also to add one more beneficiary i.e. Complainants Wife Namely Akansha Gaur in the medical insurance policy. Going through all the requirements on the complainant, the Respondent no. 2 on behalf of respondent no.1 suggested the complainant to purchase the medical insurance policy of Star Health and the respondent no.2 also told the complainant that his existing policy bearing no. 215301/48/2021/1559 of the insurer Oriental Insurance would be ported out in the Star Health company the complainants sum insured will also be increased to Rs. 5 Lakhs and also the complainant's wife's name would also be added with the complainant in his policy and the respondent no.2 told the complainant that the premium of the Star Health policy will be Rs. 8500/- for one Year. Being so deceived from the representations made by the Respondent no.2 on behalf of Respondent no.1, the complainant agreed for the same. After getting the acceptance of the Complainant the respondent no.2 on behalf of respondent no.1 started insisting the Complainant to make the online payment of the premium today only by providing the Complainants debit or credit card details, replying to which the Complainant asked the Respondent no. 2 to book an appointment of any filed representative at his house, so that he could first assure that the call is really being made on behalf of Respondent no 1 or not. Agreeing to which the Respondent no.2 on behalf of Respondent no.1 booked an appointment of 20.10.2021 Le Wednesday timings 11 Am as it was a public holiday and the Complainant received confirmation message from the Respondents regarding the Booking of appointment on his registered mobile no. 9990744473. On 20.10.2021 at about 11,30 AM Respondent no.3 reached the Complainant's house and the Complainant again narrated his requirements about PORT of existing policy into new one, increasing sum insured and also for adding one more beneficiary after seeking instructions and conformation from his seniors, the Respondent no.3 on behalf of respondent no.1 agreed for the same and respondent no.3 issued one policy of Star Health bearing policy no. P/161130/01/2022/089679 and the complainant while having discussion with respondent no.3 shown him the Complaints previous Insurance policy papers and the respondent no.3 clicked one picture of the policy papers for the porting issue and while issuing the insurance policy of star health the respondent no.3 on behalf of respondent no.1 assured that his old policy would be ported out into the star policy no. P/161130/01/2022/089679 which he had issued. The complainant being deceived by the representations make by the respondent performed his part of the contract and made a payment for the premium of 2 years policy of Rs.15611/- to the respondent no.1. After receiving payment the respondent no.3 went back and assured the complainant that he would be receiving a call on behalf of Respondent no.1 for taking details of old policy for the porting purpose. On the same day at about 3-4 PM the complainant received one call on behalf of respondent no. 1 in which the representative of respondent no.1 told the complainant that the new policy of star health had been issued in his name for 2 years and it was not the policy which the complainant asked to port and also started confirming the names and the other details which were filled by the Respondent no.3 while issuing the same. On 30.10.2021 the old policy of the Complainant got expired as it was not renewed and now after issuing of the new medical health policy of Star health bearing no. P/161130/01/2022/089679, the complainant had to serve the waiting period of 1 year for the treatment of preexisting diseases which was covered in the previous insurance policy, that's why the Complainant was more concerned about the porting of previous health policy into new one as in case of porting the beneficiary do not have to serve waiting period. After being aggrieved by the conduct of Respondent no.2 and 3 while acting on behalf of respondent no.1, the complainant made 2-3 calls to relationship managers but they all asked the complainant to send an Email at the respondent no.1 Registered email address for cancelation of the New star Health Policy P/161130/01/2022/089679. The Respondent no.1 in reply to the complaint sent by the complainant through E mail replied that "we Apologize to inform you that as per the insurer team port benefits cannot be provided in the new policy".The aforesaid act of opposite party amounts to deficiency of service and hence the complaint. The complainant has prayed for directions to the opposite party to:
a) pay back the premium amount of Rs.15,611/- to the complainant which was paid for the porting of old insurance policy into new one.
b) pay Rs. 2,00,000/- as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment .
c) pay Rs.50,000 /-as litigation expenses.
2. Opposite party put in appearance through counsel and filed written statement wherein Opposite party refuted claim of the complainant and submitted that t the Opposite Party No. 1 had made the same very clear in its Legal and Admin Policies that the Opposite Party No. l is merely a service facilitator and not a service provider and hence acts as an in intermediary between a customer and a service provider. In no event the Opposite Party No. 1 could be made liable for the acts of the Service provider like delay of claim payment or cancellation of the policy. The relevant portion of the Terms of Use in this regard is being reproduced for the sake of convenience:
"Policybazaar makes no representation about the suitability of the information, Software, products, and services contained on this site for any purpose, and the inclusion or offering of any products or services on this site does not constitute any endorsement or recommendation of such products or services. All such information, software, products, and services are provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. Policybazaar disclaims all warranties and conditions that this site, its services or any email sent from Policybazaar, its affiliates, and/or their respective or associated service providers are free of viruses or other harmful components. Policybazaar hereby disclaims all warranties and conditions with regard to this information, software, products, and services, including all implied warranties and conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and no infringement. The service providers providing services on this site are independent affiliates and Policybazaar are hot liable for the acts, errors, omissions, representations, warranties, breaches or negligence of any such service providers or for any personal injuries, death, property damage, or other damages or expenses resulting therefore. Policybazaar and its affiliates had no liability and will make no refund in the event of any delay, cancellation, strike force majeure or other causes beyond their direct control, and they have no responsibility for any additional expense omissions delays or acts of any goment or authority. In no event shall Policybazaar and/or its affiliates be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, or consequential damages arising out or in any way connected with, your access to, display of or use of this site or with the delay or inability to access, display or use this site (including, but not limited to, your reliance upon opinions appearing on this site; any computer viruses, information, software, linked sites, products, and services obtained through this site; or otherwise arising out of the access to, display of or use of this site) whether based on a theory of negligence, contract, tort, strict liability, or otherwise, and even if Policybazaar and/or its affiliates their respective service providers have been advised of the possibility of such damage. In the present case the Complainant requested the Opposite Party No.1 through its customer care executive that he wanted to port his current policy bearing policy no. 215301/48/2021/1559 of the Insurer Oriental Insurance to Star Health Insurance Company Ltd. The Complainant also requested that he wanted to increase his sum insured value of Rs. 2 Lakhs to Rs. 5 Lakhs and that the Complainant wanted to add one more beneficiary i.e. Complainant's wife namely Akansha Gaur in the said medical insurance policy. As per the above request of the Complainant, the Opposite Party No. 1 initiated this request to the insurer i.e. Star Health Insurance Company Ltd for further porting process as the insurer had all the authority and liability with respect to the policy of the Complainant. On 3 November 2021, the Opposite Party No. 1 was informed through the insurer Via e-mail stating that the above mentioned policy could not be ported as this policy had already been issued and that it did not have porting benefits. It was also pertinent to mention that while filling the proposal form in order to purchase the above policy bearing policy number 215301/48/2021/1559, it was not written anywhere that this policy has porting benefits. "PORT" is written in the proposal form of the policies in which port benefits are available and that the default is on the part of the Complainant as he had negligently filled the form without even having the complete information about the abovementioned policy. Opposite party denied rest of the allegations leveled in the complaint and prayed for dismissal of the complaint.
3. Shri Vikas Rawat – complainant has made a statement on 16.08.2022 that “I want to make opposite parties Nos.2 & 3 as preform opposite parties.
4. The parties led evidence in support of their respective versions.
5. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the record on the file.
6. In this case the complaint was filed by the complainant against opposite parties–Policybazaar.com & Ors. with the prayer to: a) pay back the premium amount of Rs.15,611/- to the complainant which was paid for the porting of old insurance policy into new one. b)pay Rs. 2,00,000/- as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment . c) pay Rs.50,000 /-as litigation expenses.
To establish his case the complainant has led in his evidence, Ex.C/A – affidavit of Vikas Rawat, Annx.A - Wardstapp message, Annx.B – colly - Star health and allied Insurance company Limited, Annx.C - Collection receipt, Annx.-D (colly) – wardsapp message Annexure – E & F – emails,
On the other hand counsel for the opposite party strongly agitated and opposed. As per the evidence of the opposite party Ex.RW1/a –affidavit of Rohit Kumar, authorized signatory of Policy Bazaar Insurance Brokers pvt. Ltd. Plot
No.119,sector-44, Gurugram,, x.R-1- resolution, Ex.R-2 – Legal and Admin policies, Ex.R-3 – email, Ex.R-4 (colly) – email dated 09.11.2021,.
7. After going through the evidence led by the parties, the Commission is of the opinion that the complaint is disposed off with the direction to opposite party No.1 to deduct the 15% as administrative charges from the paid amount and pay the remaining amount to the complainant within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of order. The opposite party No. 1 is also directed to pay Rs.1100/- as compensation on account of mental tension, agony and harassment alongwith Rs.1100/- as litigation expenses to the complainant. Compliance of this order be made within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of order. Copy of this order be given to the parties concerned free of costs and file be consigned to record room.
Announced on: 12.04.2023 (Amit Arora)
President
District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission, Faridabad.
(Mukesh Sharma)
Member
District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission, Faridabad.
(Indira Bhadana)
Member
District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission, Faridabad.
