Complainant Smt.Geeta Sharma has filed the present complaint against the opposite party U/S 12 of the Consumer Protection Act (for short, C.P.Act.) seeking necessary directions to the opposite party to credit Rs.25,000/- alongwith upto date interest from the date of debiting her account. Opposite party be further directed to pay Rs.50,000/- as compensation for harassment and mental agony and Rs.10,000/- for deficiency in service alongwith Rs.10,000/- as litigation expenses.

2.      The case of the complainant in brief is that she is consumer of opposite party having saving account bearing No.072234001000355. Her late husband namely Sh.Jaswant Raj son of Sh.Ram Sharan, took loan from the opposite party in the year 2005. Her husband died on 16.12.2007. At the time of his death there was outstanding balance of Rs.1048/- towards Jaswant Raj in his loan account. She has further pleaded that her husband while having loan account with the opposite party was paying Rs.40/- per year in respect to insurance to Reliance General Insurance through the opposite party. Jaswant Raj was having the benefit of insurance to the tune of Rs.1,00,000/-. After his death she being nominee of Jaswant Raj applied for the insurance claim after submitting the required documents to the opposite party. The opposite party also written letter dated 7.9.2009 to the Manager Reliance General Insurance near Namdev Chowk Jalandhar in respect to death claim of late Sh.Jaswant Raj. On 1.10.2009 a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- was credited in her account in respect to death claim of her husband. On 1.10.2009 she has withdrawn Rs.75,000/- from her saving bank account. In the year 2014 when she approached the opposite party for operating her account, she was surprised to know that Rs.25,000/- was debited from his saving bank account without her signature and consent. She asked the opposite party regarding debiting her account of Rs.25,000/- but no satisfactory answer was given by the opposite party. She asked the opposite party to mark the entries of abovesaid debiting of Rs.25,000/- in her pass book but the opposite party refused to do so. She has moved from pillar to post in order to get her misappropriated Rs.25,000/- but all in vain, as the opposite party refused to do anything. Thus, there is deficiency in service on the part of the opposite party. Hence this complaint.

3.       Upon notice, opposite party filed its written reply through its counsel by taking preliminary objections to the effect that the complaint is not maintainable in the present form and is without any merits and without any cause of action; this Forum has got no jurisdiction to entertain the present complaint; there is no deficiency in services on the part of the opposite party and the complainant has filed a false complaint by misstating the actual facts and has further mislead the Hon’ble Forum. On merits, it was submitted that the deceased was having a saving account with the opposite party under the Bima Yojna Scheme in which he was being given the insurance cover by the Reliance General Insurance Co. Ltd. under the Group Insurance Scheme.  When the complainant approached the opposite party with the Insurance claim of the deceased Jaswant Raj the opposite party had immediately forwarded the death claim/Insurance Claim of the deceased to the Reliance General Insurance. The Insurance Company till date has not paid the insurance claim of the husband of the complainant. The head office of the Gurdaspur Central Co-op. Bank Ltd., had received the death claim of one Jaswant Singh son of Harnam Singh resident Bulpur Tehsil Batala, District Gurdaspur and mistakenly the head office had forwarded that claim amount to the Gurdaspur Central Co-OP Bank Ltd.Paniar Branch in respect of the death claim of husband of the complainant. Thereafter the Head Office vide its letter dated 13.12.2010 had directed the Branch Manager of opposite party to recover the amount mistakenly paid to the complainant and sent the same to the account of Head Office and as per the directions of the Head Office the Branch Manager of opposite party had deducted the amount of Rs.24,800/- and send the same to the Head Office. The complainant is still liable to pay Rs.75,200/- to the complainant bank which had been falsely credited into the account of the complainant. . All other averments made in the complaint has been vehemently denied and lastly prayed that the complaint may be dismissed with costs.

4     Complainant tendered into evidence her own affidavit Ex.C1, alongwith other document Ex.C2 to Ex.C5 and closed the evidence. 

5.       Sh.Mandeep Singh Assistant Manager tendered into evidence his own affidavit Ex.OP-1, alongwith other document Ex.OP-2 to Ex.OP11 and closed the evidence.

6.      We have carefully examined the available evidence on the record file so as to interpret the meaning and purpose of each document determined against the backdrop of the respective arguments of the learned counsels of the litigants. We observe that the present complained against dispute prompted as a result of the impugned unauthorized debit of Rs.24,800/- from the SB A/c of the complainant without any pre-notice and/or post-intimation etc. We set aside the OP Bank’s prime objection of the Forum’s jurisdiction by virtue of section 3 of the Act that determines the available ‘remedy’ as alternate remedy in addition to but in detriment of the other prescribed remedy as available under the other statutes. We find that Rs.1,00,000/- was duly credited in the SB A/c of the complainant on 01.10.2009 by the OP Bank as the proceeds of the death insurance claim of her demised husband. However, a sum of Rs.24,800/- was debited in the complainant’s account on 21.12.2010 as recovery Ex.OP9/ OP10 on account of the alleged inadvertent Ex.OP3 credit entry of Rs.1.0 Lac on 01.10.2009 but without any pre-notice/post-intimation etc. Further, the OP Bank has been sleeping over the matter for full five years and arose to the occasion on 07.10.2015 (Ex.OP2 of even date) and that too after the institution of the present complaint on 14.11.2014. Had the complainant been told the fate of her claim in time she could have made the necessary follow-up etc to receive the same but presently the precious time has been lost to eternity at the callous instance of the OP Bank. By this act, the OP Bank has apparently infringed the consumer rights of the complainant and is thus found to be negligent and ‘deficient in service’ and that rakes it liable to attract an adverse award under the Act. 

7.       In the light of the all above, we partly allow the present complaint and thus ORDER the OP Bank authorities to credit Rs.24,800/- in the complainant’s account besides to pay her Rs.5,000/- as compensation and Rs. 3,000/- as cost of litigation for having suffered an unnecessary but avoidable harassment etc., within 30 days of the receipt of the copy of these orders otherwise the entire awarded amount shall attract interest @ 9% PA from the date of orders till actual payment.

8.       Copy of the order be communicated to the parties free of charges. After compliance, file be consigned to records.

                                                                          (Naveen Puri)

                                                                                  President

ANNOUNCED:                                                (Jagdeep Kaur)

December, 23 2015.                                                Member                        

*MK*