BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM RAICHUR.
COMPLAINT NO. (DCFR) CC. 36/2013.
THIS THE 11th DAY OF OCTOBER 2013.
P R E S E N T
1. Sri. Prakash Kumar B.A. LLB. PRESIDENT.
2. Sri. Gururaj, B.com.LLB. (Spl) MEMBER.
3. Smt. Pratibha Rani Hiremath, M.A. (Sanskrit) MEMBER.
*****
COMPLAINANT :- Sri. Chandramouli S/o. Lingaiah, Age: 54
years, Occ: petty Business, R/o. F8/3, Yadav Nagar Colony, Opp: Vishal cotspin Cross, R/o. Shaktinagar,
//VERSUS//
RESPONDENT :- Manager, Kapil Chits(Karnataka) Pvt. Ltd.,
No. 12-1-28/89, SKP Complex, Poornima Talkies Rajendra Gunj road, Raichur-584 102.
Date of institution :- 03-06-2013.
Date of disposal :- 11-10-2013.
Complainant represented by Sri. Shashidhar.B.Hiremath, Advocate
Respondent represented by Sri. Avaneesh.R.Taranath, Advocate.
ORDER
By Sri. Prakash Kumar, President:-
The complaint is filed by the complainant against the Respondent U/sec. 12 of Consumer Protection Act 1986.
2. The complaint in brief is that, the complainant subscribed to a chit fund of Respondent which was of the value of Rs.6,00,000/- for which monthly subscription payable was Rs. 12,000/- for a period of 50 months. The complainant paid the installments regularly without any fail and participated in 46th draw conducted on 27-01-2013 and became a prized subscriber by discounting an amount of Rs. 31,000/- and the Respondent assured to pay the prize amount of Rs. 5,69,000/- within 15 days. But till date the Respondent did not pay the same. When contacted by the complainant the Respondent had expressed his inability to pay the amount and promised to pay the same in due course. But he did not pay which he should have paid within seven days from the date of draw. Hence the complaint seeking reliefs as prayed for.
3. The Respondent filed the written version stating that, the complainant is specifically barred U/sec. 64 of Chit Funds Act 1982 and The Registrar of Co-operative societies has the sole jurisdiction to entertain any suit or other proceedings in respect of any disputes. The contents of para-2 of the complaint are partly true. It is denied that the Respondent or the agents have professed their scheme as a lucrative one and the complainant was made to understand regarding all the aspects of the chit fund including the Future Liability Aspect and only after that he has subscribed to the chit. The contents of Para-3 of the complaint is true except that it is not within the knowledge of Respondent for what reason he has subscribed to the chit fund. The contents of para-4 of the complaint are true. The contents of Para-5 of the complaint are false and baseless. As per the Chit Agreement clause VII(1) the prized amount shall be paid to the subscriber within one month of furnishing sufficient security for the due payment. In this case the complainant has yet to complete his future liability to the satisfaction of the Respondent’s Company or alternatively the complaint is at liberty to have the future liability amount deducted from his prize money and take the balance amount payable to him at any time. The complainant has not completed future liability aspect and thus the payment has been kept pending for which the Respondent is not at fault. The contents of Para-6 & 7 of the complaint are denied. The contents of para-8 are partly true with respect to issuance of legal notice and receipt of the same, rest of the averments are false and cooked-up to suit the needs of the complainant. There is no cause of action to file the complaint. There is no deficiency in service on the part of the Respondent. The contents of Para-9 of the complaint are false. The Respondent is liable to pay only the prize amount of Rs. 5,69,000/- provided the complainant offers sufficient security or alternatively undertakes to have future liability amount deducted from his prize money. No relief as prayed for by the complainant can be granted by this forum as it has no jurisdiction to entertain the complaint. Therefore the complaint be dismissed.
4. The complainant to prove his case filed his affidavit which is marked as PW-1 and relied on six documents which are marked as Ex.P-1 to Ex.P-6. On the other hand the Respondent has not adduced any evidence on their side.
5. Arguments heard on complainant’s side.
6. The points that arise for our consideration are:
1. Whether the complainant proved deficiency in service on the part of the Respondent against him?
2. Whether the complainant is entitled for the reliefs prayed for.?
3. What order?
7. Our answer on the above points are as under:
(1) In the affirmative.
(2) Partly in the affirmative.
(3) As per final order:
REASONS
POINT NO.1 :-
8. The factual aspects of the case which compelled the complainant to file the complaint against the Respondent is not in dispute. The Respondent in his written version admitted that the complainant had subscribed to the chit fund floated by his company, the value of which was Rs.6,00,000/- and the complainant had subscribed for 46 installments and became a prized subscriber at draw conducted on 27-01-2013 and Rs.31,000/- has to be discounted from the Chit amount and the complainant is entitled to Rs.5,69,000/- from his Chit Fund Company. The non payment of the said amount due to the complainant from the Respondent’s Company is also admitted by the Respondent in the written version. The reason given for non payment is that the complainant has not completed future liability aspects and thus the payment has been kept pending. It is also admitted by the Respondent in his written version that the prized amount shall be paid to the subscriber within one month from the date of draw. However what we would like to opine is that as the complainant had paid Rs. 12,000/- per month for 46th months totally amounting to Rs. 5,52,000/- there is no question for future liability undertaking or compliance by the complainant towards the Respondent’s Company. The said amount claimed by the complainant has to be paid by the Respondent’s Company without any conditions or riders. The amount due to the complainant is a huge amount. The said amount is withheld by the Respondent’s Company without any satisfactory and convincing reason, for nearly more than eight months. We do not know how many such subscribers’ huge amounts are withheld by the Respondent’s Company. It may be in crores also out of which they might have made huge profits at the cost of the complainant and other subscribers as it is possible that gullible subscribers might have paid hard earned money into the crooked hands of the Respondent’s Company and therefore they not only entitled for heavy interest but penal interest for their amount along with compensation towards deficiency in service and cost of the proceedings. The non payment of the amount due to the complainant amounts to deficiency in service on the part of the Respondent. Accordingly this point is answered in the affirmative.
POINT NO.2:-
9. As the complainant has proved that the Respondent is liable to pay Rs.5,69,000/-, which is also admitted by the Respondent himself, he is entitled for the said amount along with interest at the rate 18% p.a.. The complainant is also entitled for compensation of Rs.25,000/- towards deficiency in service and Rs.1,000/- towards cost of the proceedings. Accordingly, we answer this point partly in affirmative.
POINT NO.3:-
10. As per order below:
ORDER
The complaint filed by the complainant is partly allowed with cost.
The complainant is entitled to recover sum of Rs.5,69,000/- from Respondent’s Company.
The complainant is also entitled to recover interest at the rate of 18% p.a. on total sum of Rs.5,69,000/- from the date of the complaint till realization of the full amount.
The complainant is also entitled to recover compensation of Rs. 25,000/- towards deficiency in service from the Respondent’s Company.
The complainant is also entitled to recover sum of Rs.1,000/- towards cost of the proceedings from the Respondent’s Company.
Respondent is given one month time from the date of this order for making payment of the above said amounts.
Intimate the parties accordingly.
(Dictated to the Stenographer, typed, corrected and then pronounced in the open court on 11-10-2013)
Smt.Pratibha Rani Hiremath Sri. Gururaj Sri. Prakash Kumar
Member. Member. President,
District Consumer Forum Raichur. District Consumer Forum Raichur. District Consumer Forum Raichur.
