Delhi

North East

CC/50/2020

Smt. Amtul Habib - Complainant(s)

Versus

The Branch Manager, Central Bank of India - Opp.Party(s)

19 May 2023

ORDER

DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION: NORTH-EAST

GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI

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

 

Complaint Case No. 50/20

 

 

In the matter of:

 

	Smt. Amtul Habib W/o Sh. Chotey Khan R/o H. No. 361, St. No. 18, A-Block, Brijpuri, Wazirabad Road, Delhi-110094	Complainant
	Versus
	The Branch Manager, Central Bank of India, Branch Office at Seelam Pur, Delhi	Opposite Party

 

DATE OF INSTITUTION:        JUDGMENT RESERVED ON:                           DATE OF ORDER:

21.10.20 18.01.23 19.05.23

 

 

CORAM:

Surinder Kumar Sharma, President

Anil Kumar Bamba, Member

Ms. Adarsh Nain, Member

ORDER

 Surinder Kumar Sharma, President

The Complainant has filed the present complaint under Section 35 of the Consumer protection Act, 2019.

Case of the Complainant

1. The facts of the case as revealed from the record are that the Complainant is a senior citizen. She has a saving account with the Opposite Party bank.  Her case is that on 31.08.17 an amount of Rs. 1,245/- was lying in her said account. On 08.07.19 She deposited Rs. 500/- in her account and she was surprised to know that the balance amount in her account was only Rs. 218/-. She has alleged that she was never intimated by the bank regarding the rules and regulations under which she was required to maintain a minimum balance of Rs. 2,000/- in her account. She has alleged that the Opposite Party bank has illegally deducted the following amount from her account on various dates.

S.NO.	Date	Amount
	30.09.2017	Rs. 177/-
	31.12.2017	Rs. 177/-
	31.03.2018	Rs. 283/-
	30.06.2018	Rs. 283/-
	30.09.2018	Rs. 283/-
	16.07.2019	Rs. 283/-
	16.07.2019	A/C Closed Rs. 283/-

2. On 18.07.19 she deposited Rs. 3,000/- in her said account she has alleged that the Opposite Party has illegally deducted the above mentioned amount from her account without any information.  She has prayed for given direction to the bank to close her account to refund her deposited amount with interest.

Case of the Opposite Party

3. The Opposite Party contested the case and filed written statement. It is stated by Opposite Party that the complaint is without any cause of action. It is admitted that the Complainant is senior citizen and she has saving account in the bank. It is stated that as per Circular no. 1750 dated 10.07.17 issued by the Deputy General Manager (operation) on behalf of the Opposite Party. As per the said circular the schedule of the service charges at serial no. 17, the Quarterly Average Balance (QAB) i.e. charges for non-maintain minimum Quarterly Average Balance is revised and described at serial no. 17.1 of the said circular. It is stated that the Complainant has failed to maintain the minimum quarterly average balance as prescribed in the above mentioned circular, so the deductions as per rules were made from the saving account of the Complainant. It is stated that the complaint is without any merit and the same  be dismissed.

Rejoinder to the written statement of Opposite Party

4. The Complainant filed rejoinder to the written statement of Opposite Party wherein the Complainant has denied the pleas raised by the Opposite Party and has reiterated the assertion made in the complaint.

Evidence of the Complainant

5. The Complainant in support of her complaint filed her affidavit wherein the Complainant has supported her case as mentioned in the complaint.

Evidence of the Opposite Party

6. In order to prove its case Opposite Party has filed affidavit of Sh. Suneet Pabreja, Manager and AR of Opposite Party, wherein the averments made in the written statement of Opposite Party have been supported.  He has also relied upon the Circular no. 1750 dated 10.07.17 issued on behalf of the Central Bank of India.

Arguments & Conclusion

7. We have heard the AR of the Complainant and Ld. Counsel for Opposite Party. We have also perused the file.
8. It is admitted that the Complainant is a senior citizen. The Complainant has also filed photocopy of her Aadhar card which shows her age as 65 years as on 01.01.14. It is also admitted that Complainant is having saving account in the bank of Opposite Party. It is also admitted that certain amounts were deducted from the account of the Complainant by the Opposite Party bank.
9. The case of the Opposite Party is that the said amounts were deducted on various dates as the Complainant has failed to maintain minimum Quarterly Average Balance as per the instructions contained in the Circular no. 1750 dated 10.07.17. The Opposite Party has relied upon the said circular and has filed the copy of the same. The case of the Opposite Party is that the amount were deducted from the account of the Complainant as per instructions contained in serial no. 17.1 of Circular no. 1750 dated 10.07.17. The said instructions are reproduced as under:-

 

 

17.1	Prathamik Bachat Bank Jama Khata & CENT MUSKAN All Category of Branch- No Minimum    QAB	Free
	Saving Bank Accounts Category of Branch      Minimum QAB Rural                                        500/- Semi-Urban                          1000/- Urban/Metro                       2000/- *Quarterly Average Balance	QAB between Rs. 250-Rs. 500/-     Rs. 30/- p q. QAB Less than Rs. 250/-                   Rs. 60/- p. q. Semi-Urban: QAB between Rs. 500-Rs. 1000/-    Rs. 60/- p q. QAB Less than Rs. 500/-                    Rs. 120/- p q. Urban: (i)QAB between Rs. 1000-Rs. 2000/-   Rs. 100/- p q. (ii)QAB less than Rs. 1000/-                   Rs. 180/- p q. Metro: (i) QAB between Rs. 1000-Rs. 2000/-  Rs. 150/- p q. (ii) QAB less than Rs. 1000/-                 Rs. 240/- p q.   Note: Senior Citizen/Pensioner/Student Accounts are exempted from maintaining minimum QAB

 

10. The note appended to serial no. 17.1 shows that the requirement of minimum Quarterly Average Balance does not applied to the senior citizen. Admittedly, the Complainant is a senior citizen and therefore she is exempted from maintaining minimum Quarterly Average Balance. Hence, we hold that the Opposite Party has illegally deducted certain amounts amounting to                Rs. 1,421/- in total on various dates as mentioned above. Therefore, the complaint is allowed. The Complainant has prayed for directing the Opposite Party bank to close her account. The Opposite Party shall close the account of the Complainant on her request after following due process. The Opposite Party shall pay an amount of Rs. 1,421/- to the Complainant along with interest @ 6 % p.a. from the date of the filing the complaint till recovery. The Opposite Party has acted in gross violations of the rules and the Complainant has to take the recourse of the litigation so a compensation of Rs. 50,000/-is granted to the Complainant on account of harassment and  litigation expenses along with interest @ 6 % p.a. from the date of this order till recovery.
11. Order announced on 19.05.23.

Copy of this order be given to the parties free of cost.

File be consigned to Record Room.

(Anil Kumar Bamba)       (Member)

(Adarsh Nain)    (Member)

(Surinder Kumar Sharma) (President)