Hon’ble Mr. Sudip Niyogi, President
The case of the petitioners in short is that they had a Term Deposit (Fixed Deposit) Account with the OP amounting to Rs.2,50,000/- for a period of 60 months on and from 31.01.2012 and the date of maturity was on 31.01.17. The No. of the said Account was 32165902957 vide Receipt No.TD/CS/027/0907377. The amount of maturity of the said Fixed Deposit was Rs.3,94,924/-. However, after the maturity of the said Fixed Deposit, the petitioners were paid by the OP only Rs.3,81,803/- instead of Rs.3,94,924/-. The petitioners filed a written complaint with the OP about the short payment of Rs.13,121/-, but the OP did not respond. Subsequently, the petitioners filed an application under the RTI Act and obtained a reply from the OP, wherein it was informed that an amount of Rs.11,112/- was deducted as tax deducted at source (TDS) on the said Fixed Deposit over the five years. The petitioners claimed that even after deduction of said TDS, there is still Rs.2,009/- that they are entitled to. So, the petitioners filed this case seeking several relief (s)as prayed for in the petition of complaint.
The OPs filed w/v. It is their contention that due to deduction of TDS, overall interest was reduced by Rs.2,009/-and there was no illegal deduction from the said Account. Following are the points for consideration:
Points for consideration
- Is the instant case is maintainable?
- Is the Complainant is entitled to any relief?
- To what other relief, if any, Complainant is entitled to?
Decisions with reasons
All the points are taken up together.
During hearing of argument, neither side raised any objection regarding maintainability of this case.
At the very outset, be it noted here that in the petition of complaint, besides making an allegation of short payment of Rs.2009/-, the petitioners complained that tax deducted by Bank as TDS on the said Fixed Deposit over a period of five years was not deposited by the Bank against their Account in the IT Department. However, subsequently, during argument, it has been made clear on the part of the Complainants that almost all the TDS were rightly shown against the PAN Card No. of the Complainants.
With this, only thing which remains to be seen whether allegation of making less payment of Rs.2,009/- by the Bank is true or not. From the paper relating to the application of the Complainants under RTI Act and reply thereto, it is found that the OP/Bank admitted that the amount payable on maturity on the said Fixed Deposit Account of the Complainant was Rs. Rs.3,94,924/-. The tax deducted at source was Rs.13,121/-and the Complainants were paid Rs.3,81,803/- on the maturity of the said Account. So, it is clear that the Complainants are entitled to Rs.2,009/-. Though in their w/v, the OP maintained that this deduction of Rs.2,009/- is the result of the deduction of TDS but during argument, nothing sort of this was submitted on behalf of the OP. No initiative on the part of the OP was taken to prove their contention during hearing. Therefore, we are not in a position to accept that contention of the OP.
Thus, going through the materials on record and hearing the submissions, we are of the opinion that the Complainants are entitled to Rs.2,009/- alongwith interest of 9.25%, which was the original rate of interest on Fixed Deposit from the date of maturity i.e. 31.01.2017 till this date. This apart, Complainants are also entitled to Rs.5,000/- towards compensation for harassment, pain and agony of the Complainants. Complainants are further entitled to Rs.2,000/- towards cost of litigation. Therefore, the OP is liable to pay the said amount. With this, all the points are disposed off.
Hence, it is
Ordered
That the instant case be and the same is allowed on contest with cost. The OP is directed to pay to the Complainants Rs.2,009/- alongwith interest of 9.25%, which was the original rate of interest on Fixed Deposit from the date of maturity i.e. 31.01.2017 till this date. This apart, the OP is directed to pay Rs.5,000/- towards compensation for harassment, pain and agony of the Complainants and Rs.2,000/- towards cost of litigation.
The OP is directed to make payment of the said awarded amount to the Complainants within 45 days from the date of this order, failing which, the entire amount on different counts shall carry interest @ 9.25% per annum, which the OP is liable to pay.
Let plain copy of this order be supplied to the parties concerned by hand/by post forthwith, free of cost for information and necessary action, if any.
The copy of the Final Order is also available in the official Website www.confonet.nic.in.
Dictated and corrected by me.
