JUDGMENT AND ORDER
The case of complainant Smt. Ranjita Tiwari, in brief, is that her husband Late Ajit Tiwari during his life time entered into an agreement with the Opposite Party SBI Life insurance Co. Ltd. for coverage of his life under insurance policy namely SBI Life- Smart Money Planner Plan 2 series for Rs. 5,00,000/- ( Rupees Five Lakh) only as sum assured with effect from 19/05/2017 at a consideration of monthly premium of Rs.7046/- and a policy bearing number IR693608310 was duly issued to him by the O.P. That at the time of commencement of the policy the aforesaid insured made an initial deposit of 3 (three) months premium in advance and after paying the next monthly premium on 19/08/2017 he gave a mandate to the O.P. to realize future monthly premiums directly from his bank account maintained at SBI, New Silchar Branch. Thereafter on 22/10/2017 the insured namely Ajit Tiwari died. After the death of said insured the present complainant submitted her insurance claim as his wife-cum-nominee as per the policy. But the O.Ps. declined the complainant’s claim declaring the said policy as lapsed. It is stated by the complainant that as there was clear standing instruction for realizing the amount of monthly premium with effect from 19/09/2017 directly from the bank account of the insured and as there were sufficient balance in the said account of the insured so non-payment of premium was due to disservice and negligence of the O.Ps. Under the circumstances, the complainant has, therefore, prayed for passing an award for payment of the sum assured and other benefits as per the policy alongwith interest @18% for the period of delay. The complainant has also prayed for awarding compensation for mental agony, harassment and for payment of cost of the proceeding etc.
The Opposite parties have contested the case by filing written statement stating, interalia, that thetre is no cause of action for filing the complaint, that the present complaint is not tenable in law etc. It is stated by the O.Ps. that deceased Ajit Tiwari was issued SBI Life Smart Money Planner Plan 2 policy bearing No.- IR693608310 with date of commencement as 19/05/2017 for a basic sum assured Rs. 5,00,000/-. The policy was issued with yearly frequency of premium paying term of 6 years. The insured paid three months’ initial premium amounting to Rs.21,000/- (Rupees twenty one thousand) only. Further version of the O.Ps. is that they received a mandate form for debit of renewal premium on 21/09/2017 from the account of the policy holder and on receipt of the same the said form was sent to the bank for registration. The banker has provided the confirmation of mandate registration vide mail dated 26/10/2017. The renewal premium due on 19/09/2017 was not received and hence the policy lapsed with effect from 19/09/2017. As a result, all the benefits payable under the policy ceased. According to the answering O.Ps., mere submission of SIEFT mandate is not sufficient and the same has to be registered by the banker of the policy holder. The responsibility of the insurer arises only after the confirmation of the details from the banker. The O.Ps. are not aware of the premium remittance arrangement between the policy holder and his banker. It is stated that Ajit Tiwari is reported to have died on 22/10/2017 and on that date the alleged policy was on lapsed status for non-payment of renewal premium by the deceased for the due date 19/09/2017. Hence, according to the O.Ps., the sum assured was not payable and the claim of the complainant was repudiated as per terms and conditions of the policy. It has been claimed by the O.Ps. that there is no deficiency in service on the part of the O.Ps. and hence the complaint of the complainant is liable to be dismissed.
In support of his case the complainant has submitted her evidence on affidavit as PW-1 and has exhibited some documents. On the other hand, from the side of O.Ps. the evidence of D.W.-1 Sri Rajesh Paul , Asstt. Manager of the O.P. Company is also furnished by way of affidavit alongwith annexures. Both parties have also submitted written argument in addition of the oral argument put forward by the learned counsels of the respective parties. Perused the entire evidence on record.
PW-1 , the complainant in her evidence has reiterated the same facts as stated in the complaint petition. The version of PW-1 is that her husband Late Ajit Tiwari entered into an agreement with the Opposite Party SBI Life insurance Co. Ltd. for coverage of his life under insurance policy namely SBI Life- Smart Money Planner Plan 2 series with effect from 19/05/2017 for the sum assured of Rs. 5,00,000/- ( Rupees Five Lakh) only at a consideration of monthly premium of Rs.7046/- and a policy bearing number IR693608310 was duly issued to him by the O.P. That at the time of commencement of the policy Ajit Tiwari made an initial deposit of 3 (three) months premium in advance and after paying the next monthly premium on 19/08/2017 he gave a mandate to the O.P. to realize future monthly premiums directly from his bank account maintained at SBI, New Silchar Branch. It is further stated by PW-1 that on 22/10/2017 her husband Ajit Tiwari died and after his death she submitted insurance claim as wife-cum-nominee of deceased Ajit Tiwari but the O.Ps. declined her claim stating that the said policy had lapsed. According to PW-1, as it is an admitted fact that there was clear standing instruction for realizing the amount of monthly premium with effect from 19/09/2017 directly from the bank account of the insured and as there was sufficient balance in the said account of the insured so non-payment of monthly premium has caused disservice and negligence by the O.Ps. On the other hand, DW-1 in his evidence has not disputed the fact that SBI Life Smart Money planner plan 2 policy bearing policy no IR693608310 was issued to Ajit Tiwari, deceased husband of the complainant. But the claim of DW-1 is that in the said policy the renewal premium due on 19/09/2017 was not received by the answering O.Ps. and therefore the policy lapsed with effect from 19/09/2017 and the insurance cover on the life of Ajit Tiwari ceased. Further claim of DW-1 is that as on the date of death of late Ajit Tiwari on 22/10/2017 the insurance policy of the deceased was in lapsed status hence the sum assured of Rs.5,00,000/- is not payable under the policy. The version of DW-1 is that the answering O.Ps. can not be blamed for the non-payment of renewal premium by the deceased. It is the responsibility of the insured to ensure that the premium is paid in time and the insurance cover is kept active and only then the liability of the insurer arises.
On the other hand, according to the complainant, as Ajit Tiwari already gave mandate form for debit of monthly premium of the policy with effect from 19/09/2017 directly from his bank account so for non-payment of the premium due on 19/09/2017 the insured can not be held responsible . But the statement of the O.P. Company is that on receipt of the mandate form the same was sent for registration to the banker and the banker has provided the confirmation of mandate registration vide mail dated 26/10/2017. The O.P. side has also claimed that mere submission of SIEFT mandate is not sufficient and the same has to be registered by the banker of the policy holder. It has been argued by the learned counsel for the O.Ps. that the renewal premium of the policy of Ajit Tiwari was due on 19/09/2017 and the grace period of 15 days ended on 03/10/2017 and the O.P. received the confirmation of mandate registration vide mail dated 26/10/2017 so there was no scope for debit of monthly premium due on 19/09/2017 directly from the bank account within the grace period and it is the insured who was responsible to pay the premium directly till the activation. The learned Counsel has further submitted that in the mandate form itself Ajit Tiwari gave a declaration in this way as “ I understand and accept that SBI Life shall endeavour to activate this facility within 30 days from the date of receipt of this mandate subject to receipt of confirmation of the above details from our bank and any premiums falling due during this period will need to be paid directly. In case the activation does not take place within 30 days of receipt of this mandate or the activation fails for any reason whatsoever, I shall not hold SBI Life responsible and I shall ensure that we pay all the renewal premiums due till the date of activation. “ The complainant side has not stated anything against the above declaration made by Ajit Tiwari. So from the above declaration given by Ajit tiwari it reveals that it was within his knowledge that he ought to pay the renewal premiums directly in case the activation does not take place within 30 days or till the date of activation. But in the present case inspite of knowing the fact that it is his duty to deposit the renewal premiums directly till activation is made Ajit Tiwari did not enquire the matter whether the renewal premium due on 19/09/2017 has been debited from his bank account or not and also neither did he make payment of renewal premium directly. So for the lapses in making payment of renewal premium due on 19/09/2017 within the grace period the insured was solely liable and simply the submission of mandate form by insured Ajit Tiwari for debit of renewal premium from his bank account can not make the O.P. Company responsible for payment of renewal premium due on 19/09/2017 by debiting the bank account since the confirmation of mandate registration of Ajit Tiwari was provided by the banker vide mail dated 26/10/2017 i.e., after the date of grace period of payment of renewal premium due on 19/09/2017.
From the above discussions of the evidence on record thus it has not come out that due to any negligence of the O.Ps. the monthly premium of the policy of deceased Ajit Tiwari due on 19/09/2017 remained unpaid. As such there has been no disservice on the part of the O.Ps. towards the insured. Accordingly, we are of the considered opinion that in the present case the complainant is not entitled to get any relief. So the instant case stands dismissed on contest. No cost .
The judgment is delivered on this 25th day of August’2022 with our seal and signature.
