Haryana

Panchkula

CC/95/2022

HARISH GULATI. - Complainant(s)

Versus

PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK. - Opp.Party(s)

VIVEK SURI & MRS.ANJU SURI

23 Feb 2023

ORDER

BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION,  PANCHKULA

 

                                                       

Consumer Complaint No	:	95 of 2022
Date of Institution	:	25.03.2022
Date of Decision	:	23.02.2023

 

 

Harish Gulati aged 52 years s/o Late Sh. Bhagwan Dass Gulati, House No.11-C, DS Estate, Dkakoli, Zirakpur, District Mohali.

 

                                                                           ….Complainant

Versus

1.     Punjab National Bank through its Managing Director and CEO,    Plot No.4, Sector-10, Dwarka New Delhi-110075.

2.     Punjab National Bank through its Chief Manager, SCO No.40-41,        Sector-8, Panchkula.                                                                                                                                                         ….Opposite Parties

COMPLAINT UNDER SECTION 35 OF THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 2019

 

Before:              Sh. Satpal, President.

                        Dr. Pawan Kumar Saini, Member

Dr. Sushma Garg, Member

 

 

For the Parties:   Sh. Vivek Suri, Advocate for the complainant.

                        OPs 1 & 2 already ex-parte vide order dated 07.06.2022.

                         

                                        ORDER

(Satpal, President)

1.             The brief facts of the case, as alleged in the present complaint, are that the complainant is maintaining the saving bank account for the last 8 years with Punjab National Bank, Sector-8, Panchkula and his account no. is 2938000102067370 and he is also availing the facility of ATM Card. On 30.03.2021, the complainant made a call on toll free no.180041203316 from his mobile for checking the balance in his account. The said toll free no. was obtained by the complainant from the Website of Google. The complainant received a link from the mobile no.7699122095, which was sent by the sender. The operator also enquired from the complainant whether he had net banking facility or not and asked the complainant to activate the same to which he(complainant) denied. On 30.03.2021 at about 11:50 PM to 11:59PM, 3 transactions were made by unknown person and Rs.9 lakhs were withdrawn from the said account of the complainant, the details of which had been given in the complaint. It is stated that the complainant had no role to play in the said transactions and thus, he called the toll free number 1800 180 2222 on the site and request was made for freezing his account, whereupon the complainant was assured that no further transaction would be made. After few minutes another transaction of Rs.2 lakhs was made on 31.03.2021. The details of the transaction as made are mentioned in para no.3 of the complaint. All the transactions were made into the various accounts which were held in Punjab National Bank, which is evident from the text messages, call history of the toll free number, At about 1:50 AM on 31.03.2021 the complainant received a message that a sum of Rs. 3 lakhs had been credited in the account of the complainant. Subsequently, it came to the knowledge of the complainant that no credit had been made in his account. The complainant approached the OP No.2 and narrated the entire incident and gave an application to the bank manager and while the complainant was in the bank another transaction of Rs.2 lakhs was made from his account. Thus, a sum of Rs.13 lakhs had been withdrawn from the account of the complainant. The details of the account no. in which the last transaction was made as mentioned in para no.6 of the complaint.  

2.             Notices were issued to the OPs No.1 & 2 through registered post, which were not received back either served or unserved despite the expiry of 30 days from the issuance of notices to OPs No.1 & 2; hence, they were deemed to be served and thus, due to non appearance of OPs No.1 & 2, they were proceeded ex-parte by the Commission vide its order dated 07.06.2022.

3.             To prove the case, the learned counsel for the complainant has tendered affidavit as Annexure C-A along with documents Annexure C-1 & C-11 in evidence and closed the evidence by making a separate statement.

                During the course of arguments, the complainant has tendered the copy of statement of account no.2938000102067370, which is taken on record as Mark ‘A’ for the adjudication of the controversy between the parties in a proper and fair manner. 

4.             We have heard the learned counsel for the complainant and gone through the entire record available on the file including written arguments filed by the complainant, minutely and carefully.

5.             During arguments, the learned counsel for the complainant, reiterating the averments made in the complaint as also in the affidavit Annexure C-A of the complainant, contended that a sum of Rs.13 lakhs was un- authorizedly  withdrawn on 30.03.2021 & 31.03.2021 from the account no.2938000102067370 of the complainant vide five separate transactions. It is contended that the fraudsters succeeded in uploading the fake toll free no.1800412033016 as well as  fake link i.e. Punjab National Bank https://query4.wpcdn-a.com/ as per (Annexure C-2) on the Google site, due to the sole lapses and negligence on the part of the Ops. It is contended that the Ops have failed to discharge their duties, while not taking any action to trace out/detect the fraudsters, as warranted under relevant provisions in the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India(hereinafter referred to as RBI). The learned counsel contended that it was the bounden duty of the Ops to secure its website from the hackers/fraudsters so as to protect its customer from fraudulent transactions. The learned counsel asserted that if Ops had been vigilant and taken the timely proper step, the complainant would have been saved from the losses, which had caused to him due to unauthorized transactions. Concluding the arguments, the learned counsel has prayed for acceptance of the complaint by granting the relief as claimed for in the complaint.

6.                The OP No.1 & 2 have preferred not to contest the present complaint by remaining absent despite services of notice and accordingly, they were proceeded ex-parte vide order dated 07.06.2022 and thus, the assertions made by the complainant go unrebutted and uncontroverted.

7.             Evidently, a sum of Rs.13 lakhs was withdrawn from the account no.2938000102067370 of the complainant on 30.03.2021 & 31.03.2021. The details of the transactions are given in tabular form as under:-

Sr.No.	Amount(Rs.)	Date	Time	Annexure
1	200000/-	30.03.2021	-	C-3
2	300000/-	30.03.2021	23:54:04	C-4
3	400000/-	30.03.2021	23.56:19	C-5
4	200000/-	31.03.2021	-	C-6
5	200000/-	31.03.2021	-	C-9

 

As per above table, a sum of Rs.9,00,000/-(200000+300000+400000) was withdrawn from the account of the complainant on 30.03.2021 till the time i.e. 23:56:19(11:56 PM). As per call details, mentioned in Annexure C-7, made on the toll free number i.e. 18001802222 belonging to OPs, which was available on its website, the complainant had made a call at 11:56 P.M. on 30.03.2021 followed by another call at 11:58 PM on the same date. As per unrebutted contentions of the complainant, he had requested the Ops to freeze his account no. 2938000102067370 at 11:56/11:58 p.m. on 30.03.2021; as such, if the OPs had acted upon his request qua freezing of his account, then the unauthorized withdrawal amounting to Rs.2,00,000/-  after few minutes on 31.03.2021 i.e. during the intervening night of 30.03.2021 & 31.03.2021 and another transaction amounting to Rs.2,00,000/- done on 31.03.2021, in morning hours, while the complainant was present in the OP’s bank, could have avoided. Therefore, the Ops were negligent in not taking timely action qua unauthorized transactions made by the fraudsters. Though, the amount of Rs.2,00,000/- as withdrawn on 31.03.2021 in the morning time, when the complainant was present in the Op’s bank, was got reversed but the Ops have taken no action qua the other transactions, which had caused a loss of Rs.11,00,000/- to the complainant.

8.             In addition to above, the Ops have been found negligent and deficient, while not protecting the interest of the complainant, on other counts also. As per complaint(Annexure C-10), the matter regarding unauthorized transactions was duly reported by the  complainant to OP No.2 vide complaint no.I008073874, wherein  it was specifically reported that the amount which was withdrawn from his account, was credited into five different specific account numbers. In para no.3 of the complaint as well as the corresponding para of the affidavit, the complainant has specifically stated that the five account numbers i.e. 2938005139920, 0062003211402B, 50762043000080, 2938005139920 and 0245010390224 wherein his amount was credited pertains to Punjab National Bank. The relevant para No.3 of the complaint for the sake of clarity and convenience is reproduced as under:-

        The complainant  came to know  that all the above transactions have been made into the various accounts which are held in Punjab National Bank, the detail of which are as under:-

1. A/c no.2938005139920      =       Rs.2,00,000/-
2. A/c no.0062003211402B    =       Rs.3,00,000/-
3. A/c n.507620430000080    =       Rs.4,00,000/-
4. A/c no.2938005139920      =       Rs.2,00,000/-

 

9.             The complainant has also been found to have reported the matter to police vide his complaint dated 01.04.2021(Annexure C-11). We have no clue whether any action was taken by the Ops on the application dated 31.03.2021(Annexure C-10) submitted by the complainant to them as they have preferred not to contest the present complaint by remaining absent from the hearing of the present complaint. As per unrebutted contentions of the complainant, a fake message(Annexure C-8) was received, wherein an amount of Rs.3,00,000/- was shown credited in the account of the complainant on 31.03.2021 at 01:51:19A.M. Further, no message as per complainant was received qua the withdrawal of Rs.2,00,000/- from his account on 31.03.2021, while he was present in the bank during morning hours. The receipt of fake message as well as non receipt of a message as stated above clearly shows that the account of the complainant was hacked by some fraudsters.

10.            At this stage, we deem it expedient to mention here that the Reserve Bank of India(hereinafter referred to as RBI), pertaining to the unauthorized transactions leading to the withdrawal of the amount,  has been issuing detailed guidelines to the banks, from time to time, indicating the various steps to be taken as part of the duties owed by them to their customers. Considering the recent surge in customer grievances relating to unauthorized transactions in the accounts of the customers, enjoying electronic banking facilities like ATM-cum-Debit Cards, net banking  etc, the RBI has issued the circular no.RBI/2017-18/15 dated 06.07.2017, vide which, it has directed all banks, among others,  to put in place, appropriate  systems and procedures to ensure safety and security of electronic banking transactions carried out by customers; robust and dynamic fraud detection and prevention mechanism; mechanism to assess the risks  resulting from unauthorized transactions and measure the liabilities arising out of such events; appropriate measures to mitigate the risks and protect the banks against liabilities arising there from and a system of continually and repeatedly advising customers on how to protect themselves from electronic banking and payment related frauds. As per the aforesaid circular, if a customer suffers loss in connection with the transactions made, without his junction, by fraudsters, it has to be presumed that it is on account of the failure on the part of the bank to put in places system which prevents such withdrawals and the banks are, therefore, liable for the loss caused to their customers. Further, there shall be no liability of the customer in such cases as mentioned below:-

11.            A customer’s entitlement to zero liability shall arise where the unauthorized transaction occurs in the following events:-

i.        Contributory fraud/negligence/deficiency on the part of the bank (irrespective of whether or not the transaction is reported by the customer)

ii.       Third party breach where the deficiency lies neither with the bank nor with the customer but lies elsewhere in the system, and the customer notifies the bank within three working days of receiving the communication from the bank regarding the unauthorized transaction.

The aforesaid circular also speaks about the liability of the customer in the following cases:-

1. In cases where the loss is due to negligence by a customer, such as where he has shared the payment credentials, the customer will bear the entire loss until he reports the unauthorized transaction to the bank. Any loss occurring after the reporting of the unauthorized transaction shall be borne by the bank.

12.            As per above circular, it was bound upon the Ops  to put  in place the robust and dynamic fraud detection and prevention mechanism but we have no clue whether any fraud and detection mechanism has been put in place by the Ops or not. As per status reflected vide account statement Mark ‘A’, a sum of Rs.11,00,000/- as was unauthorizedly withdrawn by the fraudster from the account of the complainant, has not been credited into his account. It seems that no action qua the said complaint no.I008073874(Annexure C-10) was taken by the Ops so as to find out the whereabouts of the fraudsters. It was the specific and categorical contentions of the complainant that the amount unauthorizedly withdrawn from his account was credited into five separate saving bank account, maintained by the PNB. In view of the said specific and categorical contentions of the complainant, a heavy duty was cast upon the Ops to contact the concerned branches of Punjab National Bank through its fraud detection and prevention team but as stated above, the OPs slept over the complaint of the complainant. The Ops have failed to put in place the robust and dynamic fraud detection and prevention mechanism as directed by the RBI so as to protect the interest of the consumers. Needless to mention here that it is the legitimate expectation and even right of every customer of the bank to know about the identity & whereabouts of the persons committing fraud with them. Therefore, the banks(the service provider) i.e. OPs cannot be absolved of their basic duty towards its customers to conclude an in depth enquiry/investigation to its logical end so as to ascertain the identity and whereabouts of the fraudster involved in the unauthorized transactions. Thus, the OPs were under an obligation to make an all out efforts leaving no stone unturned so as to trace out the identity and whereabouts of the persons who carried out the disputed transactions in question.

13.            In the light of the above stated factual position, we have reached at an irresistible conclusion that the OPs were negligent and deficient while rendering services to the complainant; hence, the complainant is entitled the relief.

14.            As a sequel to the above discussion, we partly allow the present complaint with the following directions to the OPs No.1 & 2:-

1. To pay a sum of Rs.11,00,000/- to the complainant, along with interest @ 9% per annum w.e.f. the date of withdrawal from the account  till its realization. 
2. To pay an amount of Rs.15,000/- to the complainant on account of mental agony and harassment.
3. To pay an amount of Rs.5,500/- as cost of litigation charges.

                               

15.            The OPs No.1 & 2 shall comply with the directions/order within a period of 45 days from the date of communication of copy of this order to OPs No.1 & 2 failing which the complainant shall be at liberty to approach this Commission for initiation of proceedings under Section 71/72 of CP Act, against the OPs No.1 & 2. A copy of this order shall be forwarded, free of cost, to the parties to the complaint and file be consigned to record room after due compliance. 

 

Announced on: 23.02.2023

 

 

 

        Dr.Sushma Garg         Dr.Pawan Kumar Saini          Satpal

                Member                     Member                     President

 

Note: Each and every page of this order has been duly signed by me.

 

                                               Satpal

                                         President