BEFORE THE PRESIDENT, DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, SAMBALPUR
C.C NO-24/2013
Present-Sri Dipak Kumar Mahapatra, President, Smt. Smita Tripathy,Member (W).
Sushanta Kumar Pattanaik,aged about 57 years,
S/O- Golak Bihari Pattanaik,
Occupation-Service,
R/O- Pattnaik BHawan,Fatak,Sambalpur,
P.O- Budhraja,Dist-Sambalpur,
At presnt residing at Mahanadi Coal Fields Ltd,
Basundhara Garjan Bahal Area,
P.O-Basundhara,Dist-Sundargarh. …..Complainant
Vrs.
- State Bank of India,
Represented by its Branch Manager,Balinga,
P.O- Basundhara,P.S-Hemgir,Dist-Sundargarh.
- Manager (ATM) transaction,
State Bank of India,
Main Branch, Sambalpur,P.O/P.S/Dist-Sambalpur.…...O.Ps
Counsels:-
- For the Complainant:- Self
- For the O.P-1 :- None
- For the O.P-2 :- Sri L.K.panigrahi,Advocate & Associates.
DATE OF HEARING : 06.03.2021, DATE OF ORDER : 12.04.2021
SRI DIPAK KUMAR MAHAPATRA,PRESIDENT:-Brief facts of the case is that the Complainant has a saving bank account bearing No-10296060193 in the State Bank of India ,Balinga branch with ATM facility bearing Card No-4591510012293952. On dtd.19.10.2012 at about 9.35PM obtained a mini statement on his account from the SBI ATM counter at Khetrajpur in Sambalpur and the balance amount was Rs.40,276.29 paisa. Thereafter on dtd.20.102012 at about 12.10 P.M the Complainant withdrawn Rs.20,000.00 from a SBI ATM counter located at Khandagiri Branch, Bhubaneswar and the balance was Rs20,376.29 paisa. Again the Complainant availed a mini statement on dtd. 21.10.2012 at about 5.24.PM from an ATM(SBI) located at Jagmohan Nagar,Bhubaneswar he found that a sum of Rs.20,000/- was withdrawn on dtd.19.10.2012 from ATM 2383 SBI Sambalpur. The Complainant has not withdrawn any amount on dtd.19.10.2012, if so it must have been mentioned in the withdrawal slip/mini statement of dtd.20.10.2012. The Complainant lodged a complaint before the SBI Balinga branch regarding the unauthorised withdrawal of money from the ATM counter at Khetrajpur branch, but the bank authority sent a letter to the Complainant informing that the transaction was successful and the Complaint is closed accordingly. Further the Complainant lodged a FIR on dtd.08.11.2012 before the IIC, Khetrajpur,Govt. Railway Police Station to inquire in to the matter. The IIC Khetrajpur received a C.D of CCTV footage of the event from the SBI Main Branch, Sambalpur on dtd. 12.12.2012 who after through observation reported about the technical defect in the ATM counter machine at Khetrajpur, Sambalpur and SBITXN2383. In addition to that the IIC confirmed from the CCTV footage that on that particular time of transaction no one behind the Complainant was present at the ATM counter. The act of the O.Ps amounts to Unfair Trade Practice and Deficiency in Service. The Complainant claimed for refund of money but in vain. Hence the Complainant filed this Complaint before this Commission for grant of certain relief.
But according to the O.P the Complainant has withdrawn the amount of Rs.20,000/- on dtd.19.10.2012 at 9.35 PM from the SBI ATM at Khetrajpur. The EJ Log report generated from the system reveals that the transaction no-2383 for withdrawal of Rs.20,000/- was successful as the response code is 000. As per the EJ Report the transaction was made by the ATM Card No-4591510012293952 which belongs to the Complainant. The Branch Manager, Balinga Branch has sent a letter to the Complainant stating therein that the transaction was successful. Also he added that the case is bad for non-joinder and mis-joinder of parties.
POINTS OF DETERMINATION:-
- Whether the Complainant is comes under the purview of Consumer Protection Act-2019?
- Whether the O.Ps has committed any Deficiency in Service to the Complainant?
From the above discussion and materials available on records we inferred that the Complainant comes under the purview of Consumers as he has a saving bank account bearing No-10296060193 in the State Bank of India ,Balinga branch with ATM facility bearing Card No-4591510012293952"We have carefully gone through the pleadings of the parties as well as documents placed on record and heard both the parties at length. The ATM/Debit Card remains in the custody of the users only. No transaction can be carried out by the user without ATM/Debit Card along with PIN which is only privy to the users. In the present case also the ATM card was used by the complainant and the PIN number was only in his knowledge without which he could not have operated the ATM. In this case the allegation is relating to hardware and dispenser related issues on the machine." Though the O.P has sent a letter to the Complainant confirming the transaction was successful and filed a copy of Electronic journal report but he has not filed ATM Cash Balancing Report, ATM Reconciliation Report, ATM Cash Dispensation Elaborate Report, ATM Switch Report and No Excess Cash Certificate all showing successful transaction and withdrawal of Rs. 20,000/- to support his claim. Again on inquiry made by the IIC Khetrajpur after receiving a C.D of CCTV footage of the event from the SBI Main Branch, Sambalpur on dtd. 12.12.2012, who after through observation reported about the technical defect in the ATM counter machine at Khetrajpur, Sambalpur and SBITXN2383. In addition to that the IIC confirmed from the CCTV footage that on that particular time of transaction no one behind the Complainant was present at the ATM counter. The Reserve Bank of India has published a notification by vide no-RBI/2019-20/67 DPSS.CO.PD No.629/02.01.014/2019-20 regarding the Harmonisation of Turn Around Time (TAT) and customer compensation for failed transactions using authorised Payment Systems. It has been observed that a large number of customer complaints emanate on account of unsuccessful or ‘failed’ transactions. Failure could be on account of various factors not directly attributable to the customer such as disruption of communication links, non-availability of cash in ATMs, time-out of sessions, non-credit to beneficiary’s account due to various causes, etc. Rectification / Compensation paid to the customer for these ‘failed’ transactions is not uniform. Harmonisation of Turn Around Time (TAT) and customer compensation for
failed transactions using authorised Payment Systems Sl. no. | Description of the incident | Framework for auto-reversal and compensation | Timeline for auto-reversal | Compensation payable | I | II | III | IV | 1 | Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) including Micro-ATMs | A | Customer’s account debited but cash not dispensed. | Pro-active reversal (R) of failed transaction within a maximum of T + 5 days. | ₹ 100/- per day of delay beyond T + 5 days, to the credit of the account holder. |
According to the Reserve Bank of India if transaction at ATM fails but your account is debited then the card issuing bank is required to resolve your complaint by re-crediting your account within 7 working days from the date of complaint. . Effective from July 1, 2011, the card issuing bank is required to pay compensation of Rs. 100 per day for delay in re-crediting the customer's amount beyond 7 working days from the date of receipt of complaint regarding failed ATM transactions (where the customer's account is debited). The compensation has to be credited to the customer's account without any claim being filed by the customer. However, to be eligible for compensation, the customer has to file the complaint within 30 days of the transaction. Hence from the above discussion we reached to a conclusion that the O.Ps have committed deficiency in service and we order as under:- ORDER. Complaint filed by the complainant is allowed. The O.P-1 & 2 are jointly and severally directed to make arrangement for refund of Rs.20,000/- which was unauthorisedly debited from the account of the Complainant on dtd 19.10.2012 along with interest @ 9% p.a. from the date of filing the complaint till payment. The O.P-1 & 2 are jointly & severally directed to pay Rs. 10,000/- (Ten Thousand ) as lump sum amount for compensation and Rs.5,000/-(Five Thousand) as litigation expenses within 30 days of receiving this order failing which the OP shall pay interest @ 5% per annum on this amount from the date of filing the complaint, i.e., 27.08.2010 till its realisation." Order pronounced in the open court today i.e, on 12th day of April-2021 under my hand and seal of this Commission. Office is directed to supply copies of the Order to the parties free of costs receiving acknowledgement of the delivery thereof. I agree, -Sd/- -Sd/- MEMBER.(W) PRESIDENT. Dictated and Corrected By me. -Sd/- PRESIDENT. |
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