BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER REDRESSAL FORUM
(DISTRICT FORUM)
NORTH TRIPURA : KAILASHAHAR
C A S E NO. C. C. 18/9
SHRI PRASAD BISWAS
Son of Pranab Kanti Biswas
P.O- Paiturbazar, Durgapur,
Kailashahar, Unakoti District
…......COMPLAINANT.
V E R S U S
THE COMPLAINTS OFFICER
Exide Life Insurance Company Limited,
3rd Floor, JP Techno Park, No.3/1, Millers Road,
Bangaluru 560001. India
….....OPPOSITE PARTY
P R E S E N T
SHRI J. M. MURASING
PRESIDENT
DISTRICT CONSUMER REDRESSAL FORUM
NORTH TRIPURA::KAILASHAHAR
A N D
SMTI. S. DEB, MEMBER
SHRI P. SINHA, MEMBER
C O U N S E L
For the complainant : Self.
For the OP : S. Choudhury.
ORIGINAL DATE OF INSTITUTION :05-10-2018
JUDGMENT DELIVERED ON :18-06-2019
J U D G M E N T
This is a complaint presented by the complainant Shri Prasad Biswas U/S 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against the opposite party for getting the bonus amount against his life insurance policy bearing No. 03560363 taken from the OP.
2. The germane leading to the filing of this complaint is that the complainant purchased one life insurance policy bearing No. 03560363 with yearly premium of Rs.31,533.90 from the OP, Exide life insurance company limited on 26-04-2017. The complainant paid two yearly premiums. It is further contended in the complaint that on 11-09-2018 he received one telephonic request on behalf of the company to deposit another premium of the equal premium within 24 hours to have accrued bonus of Rs.36,000/-. During conversation the representative of the company on telephone informed him that three premium deposits were necessary to have the benefit of bonus. Accordingly, he deposited same premium of Rs.31,533/- adding bank charges to the account of the O.P by way of RTGS through State Bank of India, Kailashahar Branch vide UTR No. 818254650539 on 11-09-2018. It is complained by the complainant that till the date of filing of this complaint on 05-10-2018 he did neither receive any payment of bonus nor any acknowledgment in respect of receipt of premium of Rs.31,533/- deposited by him on 11-09-2018. It is further asserted by the complainant that he made correspondence with the O.P, but the O.P denied receipt of any premium and thus as bonafide and innocent consumer he has become the prey of fraudulence on the part of the O.P. Hence, the O.P is deficient in service in not paying the bonus amount of Rs.36,000/- to the complainant and accordingly, he sought for relief.
3 On receipt of the notice O.P appeared before this Forum through learned Advocate Mr. S. Choudhury and filed written statement stating, inter alia, that the allegations of the complainant are contrary to or inconsistent with what is averred and are denied in totality and nothing in the complaint is admitted by the OP. That the life assured had submitted the proposal for life insurance with the OP with policy No. 03560363, which is approved by the IRDA. It is further contended in the written statement by the OP that the complainant has failed to demonstrate any deficiency in services nor has attributed any fault, imperfection, shortcoming or inadequacy in the quality, nature and manner or performance, which is required to be maintained in pursuance of a contract. It is also stated that the complaint petition does not disclose any cause of action against the OP and in absence of any cause of action, as no deficiency of service has been attributed against the OP, the present complaint is liable to be dismissed. The real fact of the case is that the OP had received a duly filled and signed proposal form dated 26-04-2017 from the complainant requesting for the issuance of policy under the OP and based on the information provided in the said Application Form, the OP issued a policy bearing No. 03560363 on 27-04-2017 for annual premium of Rs. 30,840/-, payable for eight years and the policy term being sixteen years. The OP had precisely explained the standard terms and conditions and handed over the Application Form along with standard terms and conditions and key features of the policy to the complainant. It is further stated in the written statement that as per regulations of IRDA every policy document sent by the OP is accompanied with a copy of proposal form signed by the applicant and a forwarding letter which clearly mentions that in case policy holder is not satisfied with the features or the terms and conditions of the policy he/she can withdraw/return the policy within 15 days under the “Free Look Cancellation Period”. Since the complainant has signed the proposal form it is safe to assume that he must have signed the same after reading and understanding the document including terms and conditions and as such, the complainant is now estopped from raising any grievance, issue relating to the policy or its terms and conditions and seek refund of the premium paid by him. The OP straightway denied the allegation made by the complainant and stated that the allegation is false, frivolous and futile. The allegation of the complainant that on 11/09/2018 he received a call from one of the representatives of the OP who asked him to deposit the further premium in order to get the additional benefit is totally false and wrong. It is stated that the OP does not encourage alleged discrepancies or issue any insurance contract based on incorrect information. The OP as a part of its internal policy always sends the policy with all the supporting documents to the policy holder for reiterating the terms of the policy. The complainant has failed to establish the deficiency of service on the part of the OP by way of which he has suffered loss, but no loss has been caused to complainant owing to any act of the OP and thus there exists no cause of action against the OP. The Policy holder was at all times aware of the policy details and it is only after understanding the terms and conditions of the policy had he applied for the same and made the premium payment. It is stated further that the complainant being an educated person is well aware that the policy which he chose was life insurance policy, tenure of which is 16 years and he has to pay premium amount of Rs. 32,000/- annually for the term of 8 years. The complainant is, therefore, not entitled to get any bonus of Rs. 36,000/- at any point of time before completion of the full tenure and as such, the complaint of the complainant is liable to be dismissed.
4. The complainant has adduced his evidence as PW 1 recapitulating the facts as narrated by him in his complaint petition and as such, for the sake of brevity and to avoid repetition evidence of the complainant is not discussed. However, during his re-examination the complainant has exhibited the following documents:-
1. Counter foil of deposit slip, marked Exbt. 1
2. Policy issued by Exide Life Insurance Company Ltd, marked Exbt. 2 series.
During cross examination on behalf of the OP complainant admitted that he has not mentioned in the complaint petition the phone number from which he was contacted by the representative of the company. He denied that on the assurance of representative of the company for getting additional bonus he did not make payment of the third premium of Rs. 31533.90. During cross examination complainant further stated that after deposit of the third premium there was telephonic communication in between himself and the company. He further stated in cross that he lodged complaint in the complaint cell of the company. He denied that the company did not receive any premium of receipt of Rs. 31533.90 on 11/09/2018.
5. OP did not adduce any evidence.
6. Heard argument of both the sides. Besides oral argument written argument has also been submitted on behalf of the OP.
7. The only point required to be determined in the case at hand is to whether there is gross deficiency on the part of the O.P. No.1 in not paying the bonus amount of Rs. 36,000/- to the complainant on payment of third premium on 11-09-2018?
DECISION AND REASONS FOR DECISION
8. There is no denying that the complainant procured one life insurance policy having policy No. 03560363 with yearly premium of Rs. 31533.90/- from the OP on 26/04/2017. The OP in their written statement also admitted the receipt of the amount deposited by the complainant with their company on 27/04/2017 and 20/04/2018. It is the case of the complainant that on 11/09/2018 he received a phone call from one of the representative of the OP whereby he was requested to deposit another premium to have accrued bonus of Rs. 36,000/- within 24 hours. The complainant was explained by the said representative that three premiums were necessary to have the benefit of bonus and accordingly, he deposited the same premium of Rs. 31533.90/- to the account of OP through RTGS from his bank, State Bank of India, Kailashahar Branch on 11/09/2018, but till filing of the complaint on 05/10/2018 the complainant did not receive payment of bonus nor he was sent any acknowledgment as to the proof of receipt of third premium under the said policy from the OP. The complainant in his complaint petition and also in his evidence stated that on his communication with the OP, he was assured to have the amount of bonus as well as acknowledgment of premium within their process time of next 15 days, but OP denied receipt of any premium and therefore he lodged complaint against the OP. During cross examination the complainant admitted that he has not mentioned in the complaint petition the phone number from which he was contacted by the representative of the company and that after deposit of the 3rd premium there was telephonic conversation in between himself and the company and that he lodged complaint in the complaint cell of the company. But the complainant did not submit any piece of paper showing that there was communication in between him and the company regarding the payment of the bonus, though from the deposit slip ( Exbt. 1) it is found that the complainant deposited an amount of Rs. 31533/- on 11/09/2018 to Yes Bank, Mumbai Branch in favour of the OP through State Bank of India, Kailashahar Branch by way of RTGS. At the same time the complainant also did not produce the proof showing that he complained to the Complaint Cell of the OP-Company. The OP flatly denied receipt of the amount of Rs. 31,533/- by the complainant. From the terms and conditions of the Policy document nowhere it is found that an insured will be entitled to receive bonus after payment of 3rd premium. The complainant alleged that he received phone call from the representative of the OP for depositing 3rd premium to have accrued bonus, but the complainant failed to disclose the credential of that person and from which phone number he dialed the complainant and talked with him and his relationship with the OP-company. It is alleged by the complainant that on communication the OP assured him payment of bonus and acknowledgment of the receipt of the amount of 3rd premium within 15 days from that communication. If we believe this assertion of the complainant, it can be safely held that the OP received the amount of 3rd premium deposited by the complainant, but as the complainant could not produce the said alleged document, it is hard to infer that the OP received the amount of 3rd premium. The policy of the complainant was opened on 26/04/2017. It was an annual policy and accordingly the 2nd premium was deposited by the complainant on 20/04/2018. Naturally the 3rd premium was due to be paid by the complainant in the month of April 2019, but the complainant paid the 3rd premium on 11/09/2018. In the policy document it is clearly mentioned that premium shall be once a year and it has to be continued for 8 years. How could the OP managed to get the 3rd premium from the complainant appears to be fishy. The phone caller might be an anonymous person and the phone call might be a hoax and thus the complainant might have been cheated/duped by way of foul play by somebody in the name of OP-company. But the deposition of two premiums by the complainant have been admitted by the OP-company and the complainant is entitled to receive the amount due to be paid to him by virtue of his insurance policy taken from the OP. It is open for the complainant either to continue the policy up to 8 years as per terms and conditions of the policy or to surrender the policy and in the event of surrender of the policy, OP-company shall be under obligation to pay the due amount to the complainant with all benefits on deduction of the amount as stipulated under terms and conditions of the policy.
The issue is decided accordingly.
ORDER
9. In the result, it is ordered that the OP-company shall pay the due amount to the complainant within 2 (two) months from the date of surrender of the policy at any time, if desired by the complainant on deduction of admissible amount as per terms and conditions, otherwise the complainant shall be at liberty to take the recourse of law in appropriate Forum. However, the complainant is not entitled to get bonus as claimed for and also third premium, as allegedly paid by him in as much as such payment of third premium has not been proved by him.
With this observation, the case is disposed of on contest.
10. Furnish copy of this judgment free of cost to the complainant. Also furnish a copy to the O.P free of cost through their learned counsel.
ANNOUNCED
(J. M. MURASING)
PRESIDENT
(S. DEB) (P. SINHA)
MEMBER MEMBER
