BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, SIRSA.            

                                                          Consumer Complaint no. 238 of 2016                                                                         

                                                         Date of Institution         :    15.9.2016

                                                          Date of Decision   :    26.10.2017.

Smt. Roma Singla widow of Shri Deepak Singla, resident of Gali Dhana Katli, Nohriz Bazar, Sirsa, District Sirsa.

                      ……Complainant.

                             Versus.

The Branch Manager, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Branch City Thana Road, Sirsa.

  ...…Opposite party.

            Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act,1986.

Before:        SH. R.L.AHUJA…………………………PRESIDENT

SMT. RAJNI GOYAT ………………… MEMBER

          SH. MOHINDER PAUL RATHEE …… MEMBER.   

Present:       Sh. Manish Gupta,  Advocate for the complainant.

                   Sh. R.K. Chaudhary, Advocate for opposite party.

ORDER

                   The case of the complainant in brief is that Sh. Deepak Kumar Singla husband of complainant was having his account no.00682010068610 with the op bank and he was issued a VISA electron debit card No.4357085002811257 valid upto June 11/22. That the time of issuing the debit card, the bank had assured that in case of accidental death, an amount of Rs.10,00,000/- would be paid and the card holder shall be entitled to the insurance amount. That Sh. Deepak Singh had been using the debit card throughout and had been swiping the same from time to time and the card alongwith the insurance was intact. It is further averred that due to ill luck, Deepak Kumar died in a motor vehicle accident on 24.3.2016 within the jurisdiction of P.S. Sadar Mansa and a rapat dated 24.3.2016 was registered under Section 174 Cr.P.C. in P.S. Sadar Mansa and post mortem was accordingly conducted. That complainant on account of the sudden death of her husband Deepak Kumar remained under a mental shock and thereafter in the first week of June she searched all the documents of her deceased husband and found the aforesaid debit card from his personal belongings and accordingly she approached the op to lodge a claim regarding the personal accident coverage granted under the Debit card as assured at the time of issuance of the same. That the opposite party simply refused and declared that there is no such personal accident coverage given to the card holders. The complainant being a lady unaware of the legal intricacies and the benefits granted under the card kept a silence. However some account holder/ debit card holder told the complainant that a personal accidental insurance is provided by the bank. That the opposite party has not only misguided and made misrepresentation to a desperate lady rather has cheated the complainant and upon again approaching by the complainant the op simply refused to even lodge the claim or to provide any particulars and claim form for the reasons best known to op. That a notice was also served to the opposite party on 15.7.2016 but to no effect. Hence, this complaint.

2.                On notice, opposite party appeared and filed written statement to the effect that contents of complaint that Deepak Kumar was having account with op bank and he was issued visa electron debit card are admitted to be correct. But it is denied that bank had assured the card holder that in case of accidental death an amount of Rs.10 lacs would be paid as insurance claim. No insurance cover is being given by the bank for visa card. Remaining contents of complaint have also been denied.

3.                The complainant produced her affidavit Ex.CW1/A, photocopy of Visa debit card Ex.C1, copy of legal notice Ex.C2, postal receipt Ex.C3, acknowledgment Ex.C4 and statement of account Ex.C5. On the other hand, op produced affidavit of Sh. Kundan Lal Chaudhary, Senior Manager as Ex.R1, copy of circular dated 15.10.2013 Ex.R2.

4.                We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have perused the case file carefully.

5.                It is an undisputed case of the complainant that husband of complainant namely Deepak Singla now deceased was having his account No.00682010068610 with the op bank and he was issued a visa debit card No.4357085002811257. The perusal of the account statement produced by complainant as Ex.C5 reveals that the account holder was withdrawing the amounts from time to time through facility of debit card till date of his death. The op bank has not disputed the use of the said debit card by the account holder. The complainant has claimed that the account holder Sh. Deepak Singla husband of the complainant died in a motor vehicle accident on 24.3.2016 and a rapat dated 24.3.2016 was registered under Section 174 Cr.P.C. in Police Station Sadar Mansa (Punjab) and post mortem was accordingly conducted. The bank has denied about the knowledge of death of account holder in a motor vehicle accident. However, it is proved fact on record that deceased Deepak Singla was using the said debit card issued by the opposite party till his death. The bank has denied the issuance of insurance coverage and death of the deceased Deepak Singla. We have observed that neither the copy of insurance coverage/ copy of insurance relating to the debit card nor the death certificate and post mortem report of the deceased Deepak Singla have been placed on record by the complainant and nor the copy of alleged rapat recorded under Section 174 Cr.P.C. has been placed on record by the complainant which were required to be placed on record in order to settle the claim of the complainant. Though the complainant has taken the plea that she went to the op to lodge the claim but op avoided to lodge the same as per averments made in the complaint. On the other hand, the op has denied the lodging of the complaint and issuance of insurance coverage. So the justice demands, the complainant who is a layman does not know the technicalities of the law in lodging the claim. So it will be in the fitness of the things if the complainant is given an opportunity to lodge her claim by way of filing an application to the opposite party alongwith required documents i.e. proof of insurance coverage, copy of death certificate copy of PMR if the same was conducted, copy of FIR/ DDR relating to the death of the deceased Deepak Singla    and the opposite party is under legal obligation to settle the claim of the complainant as per terms and conditions existing at the time of issuing the card in question to deceased Deepak Singla.

6.                In view of above, we partly allow the present complaint and direct the complainant to lodge her claim with the opposite party alongwith relevant documents referred to above within a period of 45 days from receipt of copy of this order and thereafter the opposite party will register and process the claim of the complainant and thereafter shall settle and pay the claim of the complainant within further 45 days from the date of receipt of claim as per terms and conditions of the insurance coverage granted to the deceased Deepak Singla at the time of issuance of debit card. The period during which this complaint remained pending before this Forum shall be excluded while calculating the period of limitation of claim. A copy of this order be supplied to the parties free of costs. File be consigned to the record room.   

Announced in open Forum.                                                                       President,

Dated:26.10.2017.                          Member                  Member      District Consumer Disputes

                                                                                                       Redressal Forum, Sirsa.