Order No. 10 dt. 22/12/2016
The case of the complainant in brief is that the complainants are the joint account holders and the account was opened on 4.12.2001 in the bank of o.p. It was stated that during the period of continuance of the account. The complainants through the complainant no.2 deposited amounts in the said account only they withdrew the amount for six times through a/c payee cheques. The complainant never applied for getting Debit Card facilities and the question of withdrawing money by using debit card never arose. The complainant no.2 on 17.11.2014 deposited Rs.15,000/- and he was informed that the amount lying in the a/c was Rs.15,017.61 after depositing the Rs.15,000/-. The complainant no.2 disputed the said balance amount and asked for statement of a/c between period from 01.04.2004 to 30.12.2014 On scrutinizing the statement it was found that upto 041.10.2014 the balance of the a/c was Rs.1,65,717/- but between the period from 06.11.2014 to 13.11.2014 the entire amount i.e. Rs.1,65,700/- was withdrawn from the said a/c by using ATM Card. The complainant thereafter informed the police as well as Officer-in-charge of Ombudsmen department Reserve Bank of India but no fruitful result was achieved for which the complainant had to file this case praying for direction upon the o.p. for refund of the amount of Rs.1,65.700/- in the savings account of the complainant and prayed for compensation of Rs.2,00,000/-. The complainant also prayed for litigation of Rs.20,000/-.
The o.p. bank contested the case by filing a written version whereby all the allegations made by the complainant were denied. It was specifically stated that the account was opened on 04.12.2001 and at the time of filling up the form for opening the account the complainants also opted for debit card. The debit card was duly dispatched through courier and received by the complainants. The PIN is provided to the account holder and the PIN is totally a confidential number which is not known to any other person even the bank cannot have any knowledge about the PIN provided with the ATM Card. The complainant made allegations against the bank and Gariahat Police investigated the case and all the materials from the office record were provided to the police when the complainants found that the police after investigation failed to trace out the author of the crime and naturally no action was taken on behalf of the police, the complainant by making false allegations started this case which is to be dismissed.
On the basis of the pleadings of parties the following points are to be decided:
- Whether the complainants had the account in the o.p. bank ;
- Whether the o.p.bank issued ATM Card to the complainant;
- Whether the amount of Rs.1,65,700/- was withdrawn from the a/c of the complainant between the period from 06.11.2014 to 13.11.2014;
- Whether there was any deficiency in service on the part of the o.p.;
- Are the complainants entitled to get the relief as prayed for
Decision with reasons
All the points are taken up together for the sake of brevity and avoidance of repetition of facts.
The Ld. lawyer for the complainant argued that both the complainants are husband and wife and they used to maintain a joint account in the bank of o.p. The account was opened on 04.12.2001. The complainant during the continuance of the said a/c till the closing withdrew the amount only for six times and they never withdrew any amount through ATM Card since they never applied for ATM Card. All on a sudden after depositing an amount of Rs.15,000/- on 17.11.2014 and asking an employee of the bank to ascertain the amount lying in their credit and to his utter surprise he came to learn that an amount of Rs.15,017.61P is lying in their account. The complainant no.2 wanted a statement of accounts from the o.p. and on perusal of the statement he came to learn that between the period from 06.11.2014 to 13.11.2014 an amount of Rs.1,65,700/- was withdrawn by using ATM Card. Since fraud was practiced by the complainant no.2 lodged an FIR to the police but the police did not take any action which compelled the complainants to file this case for redressal of their grievance. In view of the said fact the complainant prayed for the relief particularly for giving necessary direction upon the o.p for refund of the amount of Rs.1,65,700/-.
The Ld. lawyer for the o.p. argued that the o.p.bank provided the debit card and the complainants at the time of opening the account filled in the form opting for debit card. The said card was sent to the account holders at their recorded address through courier . The account was opened in the year 2001 and the courier keeps the record for delivery to the addressee for the next one year. The complainants never raised any objection regarding non-issuance of ATM Card during the long period for more than a decade. After the lapse of 13 to 14 years the complainants came with this plea that the amount of Rs.1,65,700/- was withdrawn by using ATM Card. Such plea is not tenable since no one can operate the ATM card without PIN. The PIN is only known to the card holder even the bank do not have access to the PIN of the ATM card. The complainant lodged an FIR against the o.p. and the police made investigation of the case and failed to come to a definite conclusion regarding the person involved in the withdrawal of the amount from the account of the complainants during the said period. In view of the facts and circumstances as stated above the o.p. prayed for dismissal of the case.
Considering the submission of the respective parties it is an admitted fact that the account was opened in 2001, the complainants had no grievance regarding the said account till the month of October, 2014. The complainants claimed that they had no ATM Card but at the time of opening the account they applied for obtaining ATM Card. Whenever they found that the ATM card was not delivered them they ought to have brought to the notice of the bank regarding their non availability of the ATM card or they could have sent a letter to the o.p.bank intimating that they are not availing of the facility of ATM card. It is found from the materials on record that an of Rs.1,65,700/- was withdrawn between the period from 06.11.2014 to 13.11.2014 by using ATM card. The ATM card can be operated provided PIN is known to the user of ATM Card and with the withdrawal of each transaction the account holder is informed through message. The complainants in order to somehow get back the said amount has blamed upon the bank by making false allegation that bank had the role in withdrawing the amount from the account of the complainants, such story is not believable. Accordingly we hold that the complainants have failed to substantiate their allegation against the bank that there was deficiency in service on the part of the o.p.bank and the bank can not be held liable for the withdrawal the amount from the account of the complainants. The facts and circumstances of the case nullifies the contention of the complainants and the complainants will not be entitled to get any relief as prayed for.
Thus all the points are disposed of accordingly.
Hence, ordered
That the case no.435/2015 is dismissed on contest without cost against the o.p.
Supply certified copy of this order to the parties free of cost.
