Delhi

North East

CC/148/2016

Sh. Mukesh Kr. Jain - Complainant(s)

Versus

Punjab National Bank - Opp.Party(s)

10 Apr 2018

ORDER

DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM: NORTH-EAST

GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI

D.C. OFFICE COMPLEX, BUNKAR VIHAR, NAND NAGRI, DELHI-93

 

Complaint Case No. 148/16

 

In the matter of:

 

	Sh. Mukesh Kumar Jain S/o Late Sh. S.P. Jain R/o 2653, Gali No.6 Bihari Colony, Shahdara, Delhi-32	Complainant
	Versus
	Punjab National Bank G.T.Road, Shahdara, Delhi. Through its Manager	Opposite Party

 

DATE OF INSTITUTION:         JUDGMENT RESERVED ON:               DATE OF DECISION      :

07.06.2016 04.04.2018 10.04.2018

 

N.K. Sharma, President

Ms. Sonica Mehrotra, Member

Ravindra Shankar Nagar, Member

Order passed by Ms. Sonica Mehrotra, Member

 

ORDER

1. The case of the complainant is that he had savings account with the OP bank bearing account No. 0125000101622480 and has been regularly transacting in the said account and as such since 19.12.2014 up to 03.07.2014, the complainant has been depositing and withdrawing amounts only and as on 03.07.2015, was having a total amount of Rs. 44,557.02 Paise as balance in the above mentioned account maintained with the OP and the complainant used to get entered all the entries of transactions of deposit and withdrawals in his passbook as and when transactions made. The complainant has further stated that as on 13.06.2015 the balance in the said account was Rs. 1,34,557.02 Paise. The complainant had withdrawn Rs. 10,000/- on 22.06.2015 and the balance was reduced to 1,24,557.02 Paise. Thereafter on 03.07.2015 40,000/- was deducted from the account and another 40,000/- deducted on the same day and thereby the balance was shown as 44,557.02 Paise as on 03.07.2015. As per the complainant the last transaction made by him in the account was withdrawal through ATM of sum of Rs. 10,000/- on 04.07.2015 thereby leaving the balance to the tune of Rs. 34,557.02 Paise. However, when the complainant again got the entry of the amount in his passbook from the OP the total balance was shown as Rs. 24,557.02 Paise on 03.07.2015 and again balance amount of Rs. 14,557.02 Paise on 04.07.2015 in the passbook whereas no withdrawals of the 20,000/- were made by the complainant nor any cheque or DD was issued by the complainant and even the passbook entry does not specify as to which date month or year and by whom the withdrawal of Rs. 20,000/- was made between 3^rd and 4^th July 2015 whereas as per the last transaction made by the complainant on 4^th  July 2015, the balance in his account was Rs. 34,557.02 Paise. The complainant knowing the fact of wrongful deduction of Rs. 20,000/- made several visits to the OP bank and made query about the said deduction however no satisfactory reply or reason was given by the OP officials to the complainant who rather neglected the request of the complainant. The complainant moved an application by way of complaint on 07.07.2015 to the Manager of OP Bank expressing his grievance of wrongful deduction of Rs. 20,000/- and refusal by OP bank  to clear his Rs. 33,000/- value cheque presented for encashment failing which the complainant would be constrained to take legal recourse. However, the OP took no action on the same. The complainant issued a legal notice dated 21.04.2016 to the OP which was duly served upon it and in response of which the OP vide letter dated 29.04.2016 sent copy of the passbook of the relevant dates of deposit /withdrawal in which the complainant found that the OP had intentionally shown the balance amount of                                Rs. 74026.23 Paise as on 16.01.2015 and thereafter the deduction and deposit was shown day to day whereas earlier when the complainant had got the entry in the passbook from the OP, on 16.01.2015 the balance amount in the account of the complainant was shown as Rs. 1,30,170.23 Paise and as such the OP has intentionally or malafidly shown the wrong balance in the account of the complainant. Therefore, the complainant was constrained to file the present complaint alleging that the said wrongful deduction of Rs. 20,000/- by the OP from the savings account of the complainant is improper, unjust and deficiency in service and also cheating and as prayed to this Hon’ble Forum that direction be issued to the OP to return the amount of Rs. 20,000/- alongwith interest @ 24% p.a. since the date of deducting / withdrawing the said amount from savings account of the complainant in favour of the complainant. The complainant has also prayed for direction to OP to pay a sum of Rs. 50,000/- towards harassment, mental agony, pain and damages in favour of the complainant and Rs. 20,000/- as litigation expenses.
2. Notice was issued to the OP which entered appearance and filed its written statement in which the OP took the preliminary defence that the amount of Rs. 1,34,557.02 Paise was never shown in the statement account of the complainant and all transactions done by complainant are done in the bank through computerized system. The OP denied that there is any repeated deduction of Rs. 40,000/- and there were two cheques No. 854304 and 854305 issued in the names of Mukesh Jain and Sudha Rani respectively on 03.07.2015 for Rs. 40,000/- each and the complainant had done two ATM transactions of Rs. 10,000/- each on 22.06.2015 and 04.07.2015. The OP admitted to the complainant having moved application dated 07.07.2015 vide diary No. 0125 to the OP. The OP further took the defence that on checking the entry in the passbook of the complainant as well as in their ledger sheet, it has been found that there is no additional / different entry in the ledger. Difference between ledger and balance in the passbook might be due to technical reason like loss of network while updating entry in system and therefore there is no fraudulent transaction or any financial lost to the complainant on 04.07.2015. The OP has annexed copy of the account ledger enquiry and IT Team comments alongwith its written statement in justification of its defence.
3. Rejoinder to the written statement was filed by the complainant reiterating the averments made by the complainant in his complaint in which the complainant admitted to issuance of two cheques in the name of Mukesh Jain and Sudha Rani of Rs. 40,000/- each on 03.07.2015.
4. Evidence by way of affidavit were filed by the complainant and the OP.
5. Written arguments were filed by both the parties and orally addressed as well.
6. We have heard the rival contentions of both the parties and have thoroughly perused the documentary evidence placed on record. The complainant has submitted the original passbook for scrutiny of this Forum since it is the most vital piece of documentary evidence and determinant factor in the present dispute in hand.

On scrutiny of the passbook it is seen that on 16.01.2015 the balance in the account of the complainant with the OP stood as 1,30,170.23 Paise and after the last withdrawal made by the complainant on 04.07.2015 the balance was Rs. 34,557.02Paise. On the same page of the passbook, however on the top page two entries of 03.07.2015 and 04.07.2015 are shown as debit of Rs. 40,000/- and Rs. 10,000/- and it is an error apparent that for the same date of 04.07.2015 two different credit balances of Rs. 14,557.02 Paise and Rs. 34,557.02 Paise are entered by the OP therein. Further the denial by OP that no amount of Rs. 1,34,557/- was ever shown in the statement of account of the complainant is also proven wrong as the entry dated 13.06.2015 shows credit balance of Rs. 134,557.02 Paise. There is a further discrepancy with respect to the entry dated 16.01.2015 wherein the initial entry of credit is Rs. 1,30,170.23 Paise and the subsequent entry by the OP in the passbook of the complainant is shown as Rs. 1,10,170.23 Paise by showing previous balance of Rs. 74026.23 Paise which was not the case previously. It is difficult and unfathomable to reconcile with such glaring discrepancies in the modernized / computerized era where all systems are hitech and nothing is manual anymore. Therefore, such defence as branch not pressing function key F10 after printing passbook confirmation of record printed not updated at server end or overlooking the correct balance while handing over to the passbook to the customer are noting but lame defence / excuses which are not acceptable in the modernized computerized banking norms in today’s parlance.

The OP nowhere in its written statement or evidence could explain or justify the debits of Rs. 20,000/- made from the account of the complainant or the discrepancy entries in the passbook.

We therefore find merit in the case of the complainant on the basis of the documents placed on record which have gone unrebutted / undisputed and inexplicable discrepencies in the entries in the passbook of the complainant made by the OP for which the OP had no defence much less any explanation. We therefore allow the present complaint and direct the OP to pay a sum of Rs. 20,000/- alongwith interest @ 9% p.a. from the institution of complaint till realization. We also award a sum of Rs. 10,000/- to the complainant payable by the OP towards harassment, mental agony, pain and damages. We also award a sum of Rs. 5,000/- to the complainant payable by OP towards litigation expenses incurred by the complainant towards the present complaint. Let the order be complied within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order.

7.  Let a copy of this order be sent to each party free of cost as per regulation 21 of the Consumer Protection Regulations, 2005.
8.   File be consigned to record room.
9.   Announced on 10.04.2018

 

(N.K. Sharma)      President

(Sonica Mehrotra) Member

(Ravindra Shankar Nagar) Member