The fact in brief, are that the complainant took loan of Rs. 6,00,000/- from the O.Ps bank vide Application ID No. 12032571 dated – 09/05/2018  and it was sanctioned by the O.P No. 1 under personal segment advances vide product: MC-TL-XPRSCR-R-NCHKOFFJ17 and Arrangement letter was signed wherein details of the loan and terms and conditions including rates and it’s computation number of installments/EMIs to be paid,  time frame to repay the loan amount were mentioned. Where it was stated that the loan amount is to be paid in 60 equal monthly installments of Rs. 13,393/- and as processing charges of Rs. 3,540/- was to be charged. As per the terms and conditions the complainant without any lapse of time paid 60 EMIs to the O.P No. 1. which started from 05/06/2018 and ended in 05/06/2023. It is also pertinent to note that although according to the arrangement letter EMIs is Rs. 13,393/- but from the month of October, 2022 to June, 2023, Rs. 14,359/- has been deducted from the account of the complainant. Despite several attempts by the complainant to become aware of the extra amount deducted from his account the O.P No. 1 keep complainant at bay. The monthly amount for the EMIs were debited from the complainant’s bank account vide Account No. 30884017913, IFSC – SBIN0002025, the State Bank of India, Birpara Branch, Alipuduar but after that the O.P Bank suddenly increased the EMIs from Rs. 13,393/- to Rs. 14,359/- and deducted from the account of the complainant and the processing charge of Rs. 3,540/- which was fixed as per the arrangement letter but surprisingly increased to Rs. 7,080/- as processing charge form the bank account of the complainant.

            In the month of June i.e. 05/06/2023 the complainant paid the last EMIs i.e. the 60^th according to the arrangement letter, the entire loan amount is repaid with interest and within stipulated time frame but after that instead of closing the loan account and issue a clearance certificate or NOC in favour of the complainant the O.P No. 1 again deducted and amount of Rs. 14,359/- on the month of July, 2023 from the complainant’s account. After that upon the written request letter by the complainant the O.P No. 1 refunded the deducted money of Rs. 14,359/- to the complainant’s account. But the illegal deduction process continued till August to October, 2022 by the O.P bank. The complainant at first verbally requested to the O.P No. 1 to refund the deducted money but in vain. After that on 12/09/2023 the complainant sent a legal notice through his Ld. Advocate but the money was not refunded and even no reply was given by the O.P No. 1 and also did not issuing a clearance certificate/NOC to the complainant. Thereafter, the complainant finding no other alternative came before this Commission. The complainant claiming the extra amount which was illegally deducted from his bank account by the O.P No. 1 and also extra processing charge and also compensation of Rs. 50,000/- for his mental agony and harassment and Rs. 25,000/- for his litigation cost.

            Notices were duly served upon the O.Ps and after receiving the notices all the O.Ps appeared before this Commission and filed their respective w/v on 10/01/2024 and also filed their evidence-on-affidavit on 12/02/2024.

            In support of his case the complainant has filed evidence-on-affidavit and some documents in order to prove his case which is given below:-

1. Photocopy of arrangement letter marked as Annexure – A (Page – 1 to 2).
2. Photocopy of the first page of the bank account of the complainant marked as Annexure – B (Page – 3 to 4).
3. Photocopy of the bank statement is marked as Annexure – C (Page – 5 to 8).
4. Photocopy of the application, dated – 21/08/2023 as marked Annexure – D (Page-9).
5. Photocopy of the legal notice dated – 12/09/2023 is marked as Annexure – E (Page-10 to11).

O.P Nos. 1, 2 and 3 submitted w/v, evidence-on-affidavit and written argument as supporting documents.

In their w/v the O.Ps agreed that the complainant availed a personal loan of Rs. 6 lakhs from O.P No. 1 on 28/05/2018 under Express Credit Scheme which is repayable by the complainant in 60 equal monthly installment of Rs. 13,393/- and also that the complainant has paid the said EMIs within due time.  O.Ps stated that the complainant had claimed that Rs. 14,539/- was deducted instead of Rs. 13,393/- from his bank account but the O.Ps said that it was due to the increase in Repo Rate the EMIs of subsequently months had increased and also stated that the EMI was started from 05/07/2018 instead of 05/06/2018 as complainant mentioned in his complaint petition.

O.Ps also stated in their w/v that it was clearly mentioned in the arrangement letter dated – 28/05/2018 that interest rate at any time and the number of EMIs may vary for this reasons and complainant also agreed with all the terms and conditions of the loan by put his signature in the entire loan documents including “Arrangement letter” dated–28/05/2018. O.Ps also stated that after deducting the 60^th number EMI of the complainant on June, 2023 another extra EMI amount of Rs. 14,359/- had been deducted due to some technical fault of the CBS system of the bank but after knowing the fact the O.Ps also return the said amount into the account of complainant without any delay.

In this context the following are necessarily come up for the proper adjudication of this case.
 

POINTS FOR CONSIDERATION

1. Is the complainant a consumer u/s. 2(7)(ii) of Consumer Protection Act, 2019 ?
2. Has this Commission jurisdiction to try the instant case?
3. Have the O.Ps any deficiency in service as alleged by the complainant?
4. Is the complainant entitled to get any relief/reliefs as prayed for?

   DECISION WITH REASONS

            Considering the nature and character of the case all these points are taken up together for consideration for the sake of brevity and convenience.

Point Nos. 1 & 2:- It is admitted position that the complainant took a loan amount of Rs. 6 lakhs from the O.P No. 1 and loan was sanctioned to the complainant by O.P No. 1 under personal segment advances vide product : MC-TL-XPSSCR-R-NCHKOFFJ17. As per the provision of C.P. Act, 2019 the complainant is a consumer and he is entitled to file this case for his relief. The O.P bank and the complainant residing within the jurisdiction of this Commission, accordingly the case is well maintainable.

Point No. 3 & 4: It is admitted position  that the complainant took a loan of Rs. 6 lakhs from O.P No. 1 on 28/05/2018  which is repayable by the complainant in 60 equal monthly installments of Rs. 13,393/- and as processing charges of Rs. 3,540/- was to be charged.  As per the terms and conditions the complainant without any lapse of time paid 60 EMIs to O.P No. 1 which started from 05/07/2018 and ended in 05/06/2023. Although according to the arrangement letter EMI of Rs. 13,393/- to be deducted from complainant’s bank account but from the month of October, 2022 to June, 2023, Rs. 14,359/- has been deducted from the account of the complainant and the processing charges of Rs. 3,540/- which was fixed as per the arrangement letter but surprisingly increased to Rs. 7,080/- as processing charge from the bank account of the complainant. Instead of closing the loan account and issue a clearance certificate or NOC in favour of the complainant the O.P No. 1 again deducted an amount of Rs. 14,359/- in the month of July, 2023. Upon the written request letter by the complainant the O.P No. 1 refunded the deducted money of Rs. 14,359/- to the complainant account but again the illegal process of deducting EMIs of Rs. 14,359/- continued from August to October, 2023 by the O.P bank. According to the complainant that he was totally unaware of the excess amount which was deducted from his account by the O.P bank.

Now the question is, is there any deficiency in service on the part of the O.Ps or is the complainant is entitled to get any relief/reliefs as prayed for? In this regard the written version of the O.Ps in Para No. 4 we have seen that the O.Ps agreed and stated that the complainant has repaid the total loan as per the terms and conditions without any default but we have seen that the deduction amount of Rs. 13,393/- that stated in this para is not correct. As we have seen from the complainant’s documents that the O.Ps suddenly increased the EMI from the month of October, 2022 to June, 2023 from Rs. 13,393/- to Rs. 14,359/-.

When we go through the w/v submitted by O.Ps we have seen that in Para No. 5 they have stated that the EMI started from 05/07/2018 instead of 05/06/2018 which also supported by documents filed by the both parties.  At the same time we see that still the total number of sixty EMI completed on 05/06/2023 by the complainant.

We have seen from the paragraph No. 7 in their w/v that the O.Ps agreed that due some technical fault of CBS system of the Bank, the respondent bank deducted another Rs. 14,539/- from the complainant’s account. After that when the complainant lodged a written objection with the O.P bank the respondent bank returned the said amount to the complainant’s account. We also seen in the 8^th para of w/v filed by the O.Ps that the they have admitted that the O.P bank wrongly deducted the money in the months of August, September and October, 2023 from the complainant’s account and they also stated that after knowing the facts the O.P No. 1 issued a letter to his higher authority on dated – 24/11/2023 for returning the money to the complainant and also stated in Para No. 9 in their w/v that the O.P No. 1 asked for refund of Rs. 71,587/- from higher authority which had been excess amount paid by the complainant, they stated it is in process.

After carefully scrutinizing the documents, evidence-on-affidavit filed by both parties and hearing the argument we observed that the O.P bank was to charge total loan amount including interest amounts to Rs. 8,03,580/- (Rs.13,393x60) but the complainant has already made the payment of the amount of Rs. 8,89,526/-(Rs. 13,500/-x51+Rs.14,359/-x14) and thereafter, when the complainant made written complaint to the O.P No. 1, the O.P No. 1 has refunded of Rs. 14,359/-. Hence, the excess amount paid by the complainant is Rs. 71,587/- for repayment of the loan. It is also noticed by us from the documents which submitted by the complainant that an extra amount of Rs. 3,540/- was also deducted from the complainant’s bank account regarding processing charge. So, the total excess amount stands at Rs. 3,540/- + Rs. 71,587/- = Rs. 75,127/- which was illegally charge extra amount from the complainant without his prior consent.

We have also seen in the Para No. 6 of w/v filed by O.P Nos. 1, 2 and 3 stated that EMI amounts that were increased in the installments during October, 2022 to June, 2023 unilaterally as because there has been an increased in Repo Rate by RBI and the O.Ps also claim that right to alter the EMI amount were explicitly mentioned in the Arrangement letter dated – 28/05/2018 which the complainant agreed, subsequently bound to comply.

In view of the Hon’ble N.C.D.R.C., New Delhi dated – 02/04/2024 in the case of Central Bank of India -vs- Somir Kumar Bagchi (Revision Peition No. 1523 of 2019) held that “a bank can not change the agreed EMI amounts on it’s own.”

We find from the above evidence by both parties and the documents filed by the both parties that despite making written complaint, the O.Ps did not refund the excess amount to the complainant till to-date. Considering the documents submitted by the both parties we are of the view that the complainant proved his case.

Therefore, in our considered view that the O.P No. 1 is deficient in service and the complainant is entitled to get the excess amounts which had been deducted illegally from his bank account of the complainant and the bank is under obligation to pay back the money i.e. Rs. 75,127/- including the over charged processing fee to the complainant. Due to the said negligence from the part of the O.P the complainant is entitled to get back Rs. 75,187/- along with compensation of Rs. 25,000/- for his mental agony and harassment and also to get Rs. 5,000/- as litigation costs.

            Thus all the points are disposed of accordingly.

            Hence, for ends of justice; it is;-

 ORDERED

that the instant case be and same is allowed on contest against the O.Ps. The complainant(Dinabandhu Barman) do get an award amounting to Rs. 75,127/- (Rupees Seventy-Five Thousand One Hundred Twenty-Seven) for his excess amount which had been deducted illegally from the bank account of the complainant along with interest of 6% Per Annum from the date of filing to till the realization of the amount. The complainant is also do get an award amounting to Rs. 25,000/- (Rupees Twenty-Five Thousand) as compensation for his harassment, mental agony and sufferings and also Rs. 5,000/- (Rupees Five Thousand) as his litigation costs; total decreetal amount of Rs. 1,05,127/-(Rupees One Lakh Five Thousand One Hundred Twenty-Seven) excluding interest. The O.Ps are liable to pay the said award amount and they are hereby directed to comply this order within 30 days from this day, failing which legal action will be taken against him.

Let a copy of this final order be sent to the concerned parties through registered post with A/D or by hand forthwith for information and necessary action.

Dictated & Corrected by me