Delhi

East Delhi

CC/475/2015

T.K PARAMESHWARAM - Complainant(s)

Versus

SBI CARD - Opp.Party(s)

25 Jan 2023

ORDER

DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION (EAST)

GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI

CONVENIENT SHOPPING CENTRE, FIRST FLOOR,

SAINI ENCLAVE, DELHI – 110 092

 

C.C. No.475/2015

 

	T. K. Parameshwaran C-261, Eastend Apartments Mayur Vihar Phase-I Extn. Delhi-110096	….Complainant
Versus
	The Manager SBI Card Cheque Collection Center State Bank of India 101/A, Pratapnagar, Near ASN Day Boarding School, Mayur Vihar Ph-I, Delhi-110091	……OP1
	Manager, Customer Correspondence SBI Cards & Payment Services Pvt. Ltd. DLF Infinity Towers, Tower C, 12Th Floor, Block 2, Building 3, DLF Cyber City Gurgaon-122002. Haryana.	.…..OP2

 

Date of Institution: 07.07.2015

Judgment Reserved on: 16.01.2023

Judgment Passed on: 25.01.2023

                  

QUORUM:

Sh. S.S. Malhotra (President)

Sh. Ravi Kumar (Member)

Ms. Rashmi Bansal (Member)

 

Order By: Sh. Ravi Kumar (Member)

 

JUDGEMENT

1. Complainant, a Senior Citizen has filed present complaint against OPs alleging deficiency of service and Unfair Trade Practice adopted regarding his SBI Credit Card.
2. In his complaint the Complainant has contended that he is holder of SBI Card no. 4377486954696413 since 2005. This Credit Card was blocked by the OPs on 16.11.2012 without any reason and he is paying maintenance fee heavy interest @3.5% per month for his outstanding dues to maintain this Credit Card. He has stated that his Credit Card was blocked on account of late payment for the month of November 2012. He had paid Rs.7,000/- against dues of Rs.5045.85 same month but did it a little late. The OP i.e. SBI Card has no local Office to contact and no sufficient payment collection centres in Delhi to deposit the monthly dues in time. The OPs have not restored and re-activated his blocked Credit Card since 16.11.2012 and he has sent letters and emails dated 13.05.2015, 21.05.2015 requesting to restore the Card but no response was received.
3. The Complainant is also demanding refund of ‘interest’ he had paid during the blocked period @ 3.5% per month which comes to @42% per annum. From June 2015 he stopped making payment to the OP due to this harassment. He had paid Rs.34500/- during September to December 2012 and January 2013 and requested for receipt but the details were not given and he seeks refund of Rs. 34500/- along with interest @3.5% per month which comes to Rs.73140/-.

The Complainant also contended that he had already paid 3.5 times of his dues on SBI card and still left 60% of total outstanding dues. The details are given below;-

Actual outstanding dues on 05.11.2012
Total outstanding dues as per SBI card on 16.11.2012
Balance outstanding dues remain left after 2 ½ years on 05.05.2015
Total recovery during 32 months
Total payment collected by SBI card from 05.09.2012 to 05.05.2015 (32 months)
Interest part collected by SBI card

 

4. Further the Complainant has contended that OP is having hidden charges at exorbitant rate in the name of service and has sought refund of such amount as detailed below;-

Interest Part during Card blocking period
Total refund seeking during blocking
Total refund with interest @3.5% per month (1,02,756.20 x 3.5% x 32)+1,02,756.20
Grant total refund requested (Clause3+4)

 

5. The Complainant has made prayer for refund of Rs. 2,90,983.14 besides requesting to unblock his Credit Card so that he can utilize the services for which he was paying amount towards maintenance charges and other charges.
6. OP has filed their Written Statement wherein they have denied the contents of the complaint and have stated that the Complainant has not come before this Commission with clean hands and has suppressed material facts and his complaint is liable to be dismissed.

The Complainant is bound by the Terms & Conditions of the Agreement entered between him and OP which were supplied to him along with a booklet through a Welcome Kit. The Complainant’s Credit Card was blocked for the reason that there was mobile number and email change request placed through email channel by the Complainant. However the Complainant was not contactable on the contact number due to multiple contact details changed on the account and as per the process automated communicated was sent to him about the Card getting deactivated. Further the Complainant is not making payment of outstanding dues despite of so many reminders of the OP. The OP is keeping many drop boxes in SBI Branches as well as other places in Delhi. The Complainant was adamant to reactivate his Card instead of making the payment. The OP has sent statement of account to the Complainant on regular basis and details of payment made by the Complainant is duly mentioned in the monthly statement account sent to the Complainant and he is not entitled for refund of amount and rather OP is entitled for outstanding amount against his account.

 

7. Complainant has filed Rejoinder wherein he has denied the contentions raised in the Written Statement of OP and has reiterated his complaint. He has also stated that his Credit Card was blocked on 16.11.2012 without any reason. He is paying necessary maintenance fee and heavy interest @ 3.5% per month for his outstanding dues to maintain his card. The SBI Card is owned by a private Company with collaboration of SBI having its office in Gurugram but full identity and other details of the Company are not known. His card was blocked on 16.11.2012 for the reason of late payment for the month November, 2012 and the Complainant paid Rs.7,000/- against the dues of Rs.5045.85/- in same month but little late. Since then he has sent many request to restore and reactivate the card but nothing has happened.
8. Complainant has filed his evidence by way of Affidavit and OP has also filed their evidence by way of Affidavit. On 30.07.2015 Complainant also filed Affidavit narrating his complaint again wherein he enclosed the following documents:

• SBI Card Holder Agreement as Annexure A
• Rules and Regulations of RBI i.e. Credit Card operations in Banks

mentioning Terms and Conditions to Operate Credit Card as Annexure B

On 24.04.2022 the Complainant had filed calculation before the Commission and OP was direct to obtain copy of the same from the Commission.

 

9. This Commission has heard the arguments of the Complainant and OP and has perused the documents on record.

 

The case of the Complainant is that he is holder of Credit Card no. 4377486954696413 of  the OP with credit limit of Rs.108000/-. There was over-  due on his Card on 16.11.2012 and the Card was blocked by the OP on 16.11.2012 as on that date the total outstanding of Rs.98053.23/-. He had to pay minimum amount of Rs.5045.85/- and he paid Rs.7000/- towards it but admittedly little late i.e. 03.12.2012. Thereafter OP continued to raise demand for the due amount with minimum amount demand and this minimum amount demand was paid by the Complainant regularly till May, 2015. However in every further month demand OP was levying Fee, GST & Interest Charges which ranged between Rs.1900/- to Rs.3300/- and minimum amount demand was made each time. The Outstanding liablilty on the Credit Card in October 2012 was Rs.93678.79/- and despite of paying minimum charges by the Complainant upto April 2015 the liability stood at Rs.55811.43/- in May, 2015.

The Credit Card of the Complainant was not unblocked by the OP and under protest the Complainant stopped paying further payment after May 2015 and filed complaint before this Commission. Any credit card which is applied by a person is by way of Cardholder Agreement, sample copy of which has been placed on record of this Commission by the Complainant along with the details of payment made by the Complainant. This Agreement is non case specific (OP has also not filed Complainant’s Credit Card Agreement)  but it is a sample SBI Card Holder Agreement.

 

Condition 6.3 of the Agreement reads as under:-

‘The monthly statement of account will set out, inter alia, the outstanding balance on the Card Account, minimum payment required to be made and the due date for payment. The minimum payment due from the Cardholder each month will consist of (a) the monthly payment- this amount is payable by the due date shown on the relevant monthly statement of account and will be 5% of the outstanding balance on the Card Account or Rs.200 whichever is higher (refer Tariff of Charges) and (b) any overdue amount and any over limit amount outstanding balance on the Card Account’.

 6.4(a)- ‘unless the interest free period applies as set out below, SBICPSL will levy a finance charge on any new purchase (and any related debited Charge) from the day on which it is debited to the Card Account. The interest free period for a purchase (and any related debit charge) in any statement period will apply if the outstanding balance on the Card Account for the previous statement period (if any) is paid in full by its due date. If the outstanding balance on the Card Account is not paid in full by its due date, a finance charge will be levied on any new purchase (and any related debited charge) from the day on which the purchase (and any related debited charge) is debited to the Card Account and on the outstanding account balance on the Card Account from the first day of the last statement period. SBICPSL will charge interest on a cash advance from the day on which the cash advance is debited to the Card Account’.

          ‘The Cardholder must make payment to SBICPSL each month of at least the minimum amount due as described in clause 6.3 hereinbefore’.

 

It is again observed that Rate of Interest @3.5% per month has no where figured in the Sample Agreement.

 

The Complainant was using the Credit Card of OP. He was supposed to pay the outstanding and on his card, however he was paying only minimum due amount. The OP de-activated his Credit Card on 16.11.2012.  This liability pertains to the Complainant and he was under obligation to liquidate it. However he did not do so between 2012 to 2015 and even today. As per the Card Holder Agreement, Complainant was liable to pay penalties, late charges fee etc. and the monthly amount which he was paying and surplus amount was adjusted towards his outstanding liability.

 

10. Credit card issued by any company is a clean loan without any security from the side of the card holder and OP in tune with RBI guidelines is entitled to frame the terms and condition.   The Credit Card was issued to the Complainant in 2005 and the same was blocked by OP in November 2012.  As per the version of the OP the same was blocked on account of the request made by the Complainant to them for change of his mobile number and e-mail address and after the request was made the Complainant was not approachable and OP blocked the card.  This stand of the OP is not supported by any documentary evidence and rather Complainant has produced many related documents wherein he had requested to unblock his card.   
11. The Complainant has filed SBI Card Holder Agreement which is not of his case specific and rather it’s a sample Agreement Terms & Conditions.  He has also filed RBI notification dated 21.11.2005 having reference number DBOD.FSD.BC.49/24.01.011/2005-06 which is an important document addressed to all commercial banks/ NBFCs and it mentions that ‘while issuing card, the terms and conditions for issue and usage of a credit card should be mentioned in clear and simple language comprehensible to a card user.  The Most Important Terms and Conditions (MITCs) termed as standard set of conditions, as given in the appendix, should be highlighted and advertised/ sent separately to the prospective customer/ customers at all stages i.e. during marketing, at the time of application, at the acceptance stage (welcome kit) and in important subsequent communications’.  The said notification of RBI also mentions that ‘the manner in which outstanding unpaid amount will be included for calculation of interest should also be specifically shown with prominence in all monthly statements.  Even where the minimum amount indicated to keep the card valid has been paid, it should be indicated in bold letters that interest will be charged on the amount due after the due date of payment.  These aspects may be shown in the Welcome Kit in addition to being shown in the monthly statement’.  Most importantly the RBI Notification also states that ‘bank/ NBFC should not levy any charge that was not explicitly indicated to the credit card holder at the time of issue of the card and getting his/her consent’. 
12. The contention of the OP is that the Complainant is bound by the terms and conditions of the Credit Card Agreement and that they have acted as per the same and there is default on the part of the Complainant in not paying his dues on the credit card.  This statement of the OP is in contradiction to their own stand that the Credit Card of the Complainant was blocked as he was unapproachable after he made request to change his mobile number and e-mail address.  The Complainant was paying the minimum amount payable as per the demand raised on him and in the bill for the month of October 2012 a bill was raised on him to pay minimum Rs.5045.85/- and the due date was 05.11.2012 however the Complainant paid Rs.7000/- towards this bill vide his cheque dated 03.12.2012 hence there was a delayed payment made by the Complainant and the card of the Complainant was blocked on 16.11.2012 by the OP.  Thereafter also the Complainant continued to make the payment of minimum amount raised by the OP regularly till May 2015 and he kept on requesting to unblock his card and as he was paying the minimum charges regularly to maintain his card.  However, his card was not unblocked and the Complainant finally filed the present complaint before this Commission. 
13. It is pertinent to note that despite of all this there is still outstanding amount of Rs.55811.43/- on this card issued to the Complainant as on May 2015.  The Complainant has alleged Unfair Trade Practice as he had already paid more than the amount due to him however the OP was levying interest @ 3.5% per month which according to him annually comes to 42% for which the Complainant was never informed in writing nor the same was part of Welcome Kit and the Credit Card Holder Agreement. 
14. The OP has not argued their case before this Commission despite of opportunities given to them several times and did not rebut the documents produced by the Complainant as – SBI Card Holder Agreement, Rules and Regulations of RBI. 
15. Coming to the issue as to whether the OP can block the card of the Complainant despite of his making minimum amount as per the bills.  The bill in question pertains to the month of October 2012 and the same was payable by 05.11.2012 however the Complainant paid this minimum amount only in the first week of December 2012.  Even if the OP was entitled to block his card due to the same then also communication to this aspect should have been sent to him that why his card has been blocked however the OP took a different stand and stated before this Commission in their Written Statement that they had blocked the card on account of Complainant becoming unapproachable and they had received request for change of his mobile number and e-mail.  There is a contradiction in the stand of the OP as thereafter also the bills were raised on the Complainant by the OP and he was making payment regularly till May 2015 and it cannot be said that he was not approachable and if that was the case then how the OP was sending the bills to him on monthly basis and receiving the payment also. 

Now, coming to the aspect of how much interest the OP could have charged on the overdue amount on the card of the Complainant and in this case Complainant has contended that OP has charged @ 3.5% per month and cumulatively 42% per annum. Complainant has not produced any document to establish that OP had charged 3.5% per month cumulative 42% per annum and Commission is not examining this question as to what Rate of Interest was charged by the OP.

 

Rather Complainant has relied upon sample Card Holder Agreement and under point 6.3 it is mentioned that :

‘The monthly statement of account will set out, inter alia, the outstanding balance on the Card Account, minimum payment required to be made and the due date for payment. The minimum payment due from the Cardholder each month will consist of (a) the monthly payment- this amount is payable by the due date shown on the relevant monthly statement of account and will be 5% of the outstanding balance on the Card Account or Rs.200 whichever is higher (refer Tariff of Charges) and (b) any overdue amount and any over limit amount outstanding balance on the Card Account’.

Once Complainant himself relies on the said document then he was bound by its Terms & Conditions to pay minimum amount of demand of 5% as per the Monthly Bills raised on him which he paid also but he did not clear the total outstanding amount on his Card and this continued for 3 years 6 months from November 2012 to May 2015. Still there is outstanding amount due of Rs. Rs.55811.43/- as on May, 2015 on the Credit Card of the Complainant.

 

16. In our considered view once the Complainant has relied upon Card Holder Agreement (sample copy) then he is bound by its Terms & Conditions and no deficiency can be found on the part of OPs on this aspect and Complainant was bound to pay 5% minimum payment monthly.

 

17. However there is deficiency on the part of OP in blocking the Credit Card of the Complainant despite of receiving the minimum payment regularly from November 2012 to May 2015.  On perusal of Monthly Statement of May 2015 it is observed that the Credit Limit of the Complainant is shown as Rs.108000/- and Cash Limit was Rs.43200/- and despite of Complainant paying Miminum amount from November 2012 to May 2015 his Credit Card remained ‘Blocked’ which is unreasonable and also amount to deficiency of service as nowhere it is stated in the Card Holder Agreement that even when Card Holder is paying Minimum Amount then also his Card can be blocked and the reason given by the OP that Complainant was not approachable after he made request to change his Mobile and e-mail address is untenable.

 

18. There is outstanding amount of Rs.55811.43/- as on May 2015 and the  Complainant has stated that he is ready to pay the same however without any interest from May 2015. OP can take steps in this regard as per their guidelines/procedure.

 

  

19.  In view of the above, this Commission holds OPs liable for deficiency of service to the extent of Blocking the Credit Card No.4377486954696413 of the Complainant on 16.12.2012 and not unblocking it despite of request made by the Complainant and paying Minimum Amount from December 2012 to May 2015 which has caused mental agony to the Complainant and directs the OPs as follows:

• OP1 & OP2 (jointly and severally) to unblock the Credit Card No.4377486954696413 of the Complainant or in alternative issue a fresh Credit Card to the Complainant with same facilities and limit within 30 days of the date of this Order failing which they will pay Rs.15000/- as compensation to the Complainant.

 

• OP1 & OP2 (jointly and severally) to pay Rs.25000/- to the Complainant towards mental agony within 30 days of the date of this Order.

 

3. opy of the Order be supplied/sent to the Parties free of cost as per Rules.

 

File be consigned to Record Room.

Announced on 25.01.2023 

 DELHI

 

 

(Rashmi Bansal) Member

(Ravi Kumar)        Member

(S.S.Malhotra)         President