Order No. 11 dt. 18/06/2019
The case of the complainants in brief is that the complainants opened two term deposit accounts in o.p. no.1 and both the accounts are jointly held by the complainant nos.1 and 2. The account no.95114030001175 was opened on 18.7.11 for a period of 120 months, an amount of Rs.1,40,000/- was deposited with rate of interest 9.50% payable quarterly. The quarterly interest is Rs.3325/- payable every quarter. The account no.95114030001260 was opened on 30.8.11 for a period of 120 months, an amount of Rs.50,000/- was deposited with rate of interest 9.25% payable quarterly. The quarterly interest is Rs.1156.25 payable every quarter. The complainants submitted 15G Form in respect both the fixed deposits, but o.p. no.1 deducted TDS from both the accounts amounting to Rs.332.50 and Rs.115.63 respectively. The complainants made representation to o.p. no.1 as to why the amount was deducted in spite of submission of 15G Form and for which the complainant demanded the TDS deducted from their account, but o.p. bank did not pay any heed, for which the complainant filed this case praying for direction upon the o.ps. to refund the amount of Rs.448.13 along with interest @ 9.50% as well as compensation and litigation cost.
The o.ps. contested this case by filing w/v and denied all the material allegations of the complaint. It was stated that the complainants had two terms deposit accounts with o.ps. The opening of term deposit, calculation of interest, payment of TDS, payment of maturity value, all are completely computer system driven. As per the provision of Income Tax Act any person having bank account can file 15G Form in the month of April every year or at the time of opening of his / her account declaring his / her annual income. The declaration as per Income Tax Act the person must submit the form by filing all the points mentioned in the said form. The declarant has to verify and declare that to the best of his / his knowledge and believe what is stated in the said form correct, complete and is true. The complainant no.1 having joint account with the complainant no.2, the form was verified by the complainant no.1 only. The complainant no.1 submitted incomplete 15G Form with o.p. no.1. As per provision the complainant no.1 has to fill the column nos.16, 17 and 18 mandatorily. But the complainant no.1 did not fill those columns. As per the provision of Income Tax the TDS deducted by the person / authority have to file within a stipulated time. Due to non submission of complete filled form the computer system of bank deducted the TDS automatically from the account of the complainants as per provision of Income Tax Act and the bank deposited the said deducted TDS amount to the Income Tax. In view of the said fact there is no deficiency in service on the part of o.ps. Moreover, if the complainant no.1 claimed that his income is not taxable he could have filed return for claiming the refund of the said deducted amount from income tax authority. As such, o.ps. prayed for dismissal of the case.
On the basis of the pleadings of parties the following points are to be decided:
- Whether the complainants had fixed deposits with o.ps.?
- Whether the TDS was illegally deducted in spite of submission of 15G Form?
- Whether there was any deficiency in service on the part of o.ps.?
- Whether the complainant will be 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 complainant no.1 himself argued that the complainants opened two term deposit accounts in o.p. no.1 and both the accounts are jointly held by the complainant nos.1 and 2. The account no.95114030001175 was opened on 18.7.11 for a period of 120 months, an amount of Rs.1,40,000/- was deposited with rate of interest 9.50% payable quarterly. The quarterly interest is Rs.3325/- payable every quarter. The account no.95114030001260 was opened on 30.8.11 for a period of 120 months, an amount of Rs.50,000/- was deposited with rate of interest 9.25% payable quarterly. The quarterly interest is Rs.1156.25 payable every quarter. The complainants submitted 15G Form in respect both the fixed deposits, but o.p. no.1 deducted TDS from both the accounts amounting to Rs.332.50 and Rs.115.63 respectively. The complainants made representation to o.p. no.1 as to why the amount was deducted in spite of submission of 15G Form and for which the complainant demanded the TDS deducted from their account, but o.p. bank did not pay any heed, for which the complainant filed this case praying for direction upon the o.ps. to refund the amount of Rs.448.13 along with interest @ 9.50% as well as compensation and litigation cost.
Ld. lawyer for the o.ps. argued that the complainants had two terms deposit accounts with o.ps. The opening of term deposit, calculation of interest, payment of TDS, payment of maturity value, all are completely computer system driven. As per the provision of Income Tax Act any person having bank account can file 15G Form in the month of April every year or at the time of opening of his / her account declaring his / her annual income. The declaration as per Income Tax Act the person must submit the form by filing all the points mentioned in the said form. The declarant has to verify and declare that to the best of his / his knowledge and believe what is stated in the said form correct, complete and is true. The complainant no.1 having joint account with the complainant no.2, the form was verified by the complainant no.1 only. The complainant no.1 submitted incomplete 15G Form with o.p. no.1. As per provision the complainant no.1 has to fill the column nos.16, 17 and 18 mandatorily. But the complainant no.1 did not fill those columns. As per the provision of Income Tax the TDS deducted by the person / authority have to file within a stipulated time. Due to non submission of complete filled form the computer system of bank deducted the TDS automatically from the account of the complainants as per provision of Income Tax Act and the bank deposited the said deducted TDS amount to the Income Tax. In view of the said fact there is no deficiency in service on the part of o.ps. Moreover, if the complainant no.1 claimed that his income is not taxable he could have filed return for claiming the refund of the said deducted amount from income tax authority. As such, o.ps. prayed for dismissal of the case.
Considering the submissions of the respective parties it is an admitted fact that the complainants maintained two fixed deposits with o.p. bank and o.p. bank paid the interest to the complainants from time to time. The complainant no.1 has claimed that he submitted 15G Form, but o.ps. illegally deducted TDS from the accrued interest and thereby complainant no.1 has filed this case praying for deficiency in service on the part of o.ps. In support of the said contention the complainant no.1 has filed copy of 15G Form. On perusal of the said documents it appears that the complainant no.1 did not fill up all the columns as mentioned in the said Form. The complainant no.1 has stated that he along with his wife used to maintain the joint account in respect of those fixed deposits. But it is curious enough that the complainant no.1 being one of the depositors put his signature in the declaration form u/s 15G and the complainant no.2 did not put her signature in the declaration form u/s 15G. It appears from materials on record that it is the system of the bank that the entire deposits, payment of interest, TDS, all are generated through computer system maintained by the bank. Here in this case, the complainant no.1 failed to submit the 15G Form properly, therefore, no action was taken by the bank in respect of the said form submitted by the complainant no.1. Accordingly, as per the norms the bank deducted TDS from the accrued interest and the same was credited in the account of Income Tax Department. The complainant no.1 could have submitted the return to the income tax authority stating inter alia that he has no income to pay any income tax and he could have sought for refund of the money by mentioning in the said return regarding the TDS deducted by the bank and the income tax authority after scrutinizing the documents could have refunded the amount. The complainant no.1 instead of taking lawful recourse to have the refund of money and in order to have the financial gain made false allegations against the o.ps. that he made proper application to the bank u/s 15G which is totally not correct and therefore, we hold that the deduction made by the bank was made as per the provisions laid down in the Income Tax Act. In view of the said fact we hold that there is no deficiency in service on the part of o.ps. and thereby, 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 CC No.193/2018 is dismissed on contest without cost against the o.ps.
