| Complaint Case No. CC/10/66 |
| | | | 1. Cherukuri Radha Krishna,S/o. Pullaiah, Age: 57 years,Occu: Agriculture,R/o. Kamanchikal Village,Khammam Rural,Khammam District. | | Cherukuri Radha Krishna,S/o. Pullaiah, Age: 57 years,Occu: Agriculture,R/o. Kamanchikal Village,Khammam Rural,Khammam District. | | Khammam | | Andhra Pradesh |
| ...........Complainant(s) | |
| Versus | | 1. The Manager,Vijaya Bank,Khammam. | | The Manager,Vijaya Bank,Khammam. | | Khammam | | Andhra Pradesh |
| ............Opp.Party(s) |
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| ORDER | | BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMERS FORUM AT KHAMMAM Dated this, the 22nd day of June, 2011 CORAM: 1. Sri Vijay Kumar, B.Com., L.L.B. - President, 2. Sri R. Kiran Kumar, B.Sc. L.L.B - Member C.C. No.66/2010 Between: Cherukuri Radha Krishna, S/o Pullaiah, Age:57years, Occu:Agriulture, R/o Khamanchikal(V), Khammam Rural, Khammam District. ….Complainant And The Manager, Vijaya Bank, Khammam. …Opposite party This C.C. is coming before us for final hearing, in the presence of Sri.K.V. Kaladhar, Advocate for Complainant and of Sri.A.V.Ramanujacharyulu, Advocate for opposite party; upon perusing the material papers on record; upon hearing the arguments and having stood over for consideration, this Forum passed the following:- O R D E R (Per Sri R. Kiran Kumar, Member) 1. This complaint is filed under section 12(A) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The averments made in the complaint are that the complainant had obtained Tractor Loan for his agricultural purpose from opposite party bank on 25-07-2000 and as per the terms, the complainant has to pay the loan amount 9 yearly installments. As per the manual statement, the complainant has to pay Rs.45,360/- and in computerized statement it was shown as 41,231/-, as furnished by the opposite party bank. It shows the discrepancy of their own statement and also against the RBI guidelines. The complainant further submitted that the opposite party bank claimed interest @14% p.a. till 2004 on the loan amount and thereafter the opposite party bank enhanced the rate of interest to @Rs.16.50p/- monthly wise which is illegal and arbitrary and against the guidelines of R.B.I. And Also submitted that the interest charged by the opposite party bank exceeds the principal amount, apart from heavy interest charged and also claimed so many charges in their statement of account furnished to the complainant. The complainant further submitted that the Khadi and Village industries Board has released an amount of Rs.65,200/- as back end subsidy during the year 2002 and the same was sent to the opposite party directly. But the opposite party bank credited the amount to the loan account of the complainant on 02-01-2006, which was against the spirit of back end subsidy. And also submitted that in the year 2008 the Government of India announced the Debt Waiver Scheme, for that the complainant approached the opposite party bank and requested to implement the scheme to his loan amount but the opposite party failed to do so. And also submitted that as per the Debt Waiver Scheme from 01-04-1997 to 31-03-2007 during the period who availed the bank loans and default in payment of installments, this scheme will apply and the banker has to calculate simple interest and on that accrued amount 25% subsidy has to give to the loan and the rest of the amount, the banker has to receive from the Lonee. And also due to drought conditions prevailed the Government of India again extended this scheme till 30-06-2010. In the above circumstances the complainant is eligible for relief under Debt Waiver Scheme but the opposite party bank intentionally not applied the scheme for the complainant Tractor Loan, which amounts to deficiency in service of opposite party bank. Hence this compliant. 2. To support his case the complaint filed the following documents, which were marked as exhibits. Ex.A1:- Statement of Account furnished by the opposite party bank to the complainant from 25-07-2000 to 01-08-2009. Ex.A2:- Challan issued by opposite party to the complainant , dt.28-01-2010. Ex.A3:- A letter submitted by the complainant to the opposite party bank dt.28-06-2010. Ex.A4:- Letter addressed to the complainant by the office of the Banking Ombudsman, dt.14-07-2010. Ex.A5:- Letter addressed by the opposite party bank to the Banking Ombudsman, dt.24-06-2010. Ex.A6:- Photocopy of certificate of Registration Tractor No. AP20-F-5784. Ex.A7:- Letter addressed to the complainant by opposite party bank, dated 04-08-2010. Ex.A8:- Circular No.81/2008, regarding Agriculture Debt Waiver & Debt Relief Scheme-2008. Ex.A9:- Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008 – Implementation circular 1/2008. Ex.A10:- Statement of account in respect of A/c No.402909040990084. Ex.A11:- Recalculation of interest @14.5% by opposite party dated 10-07-2010. Ex.A12:- Photo copy of OTS extension circular dated 19-04-2010. 3. On receipt of the notice, the opposite party bank appeared through their counsel and filed counter. In the counter they denied the entire allegations made by the complainant and prayed that the allegations are invented and created for the purpose of the complaint only. And also submitted that due to the migration of bank account from manual to computerization during 2004 and to on line core banking solutions during 2007, as such the opposite party bank has furnished two statements to the complaint, but there are no changes in the said statement as alleged by the complainant. The opposite party bank further submitted that the complainant is not a small farmer as such the Debt Waiver Scheme will not be applicable to the compliant as per the Government rules and regulations, in fact the Debt Waiver Scheme is applicable only to the agriculture loans i.e. crop loans. As such the complainant has no right to ask for debt waiver. However, the opposite party bank had given debt relief to the loan account of the complainant for an amount of Rs.20,000/- and the same is credited to the account on 31-12-2009. An amount of Rs.13,400/- was reversed and credited to the loan account on 19-07-2010 as the interest charged on the eligible amount of relief after 29-02-2008 as stipulated in this scheme. And also submitted that the complainant has no right to ask an amount of Rs.1,00,000/- from opposite party bank as the complainant has to pay the due amount to the opposite party bank, but in order to avoid the due amount, the complainant filed this compliant with a malafide intention to get wrongful gain from opposite party bank. As such the opposite party bank prayed that the complaint is not maintainable either in law or on facts and it is liable to be dismissed. 4. On behalf of the opposite party bank no documents were filed. 5. Counsel for complainant filed written arguments and counsel for opposite party bank filed a memo to treat their counter as written arguments. 6. Upon perusing the material papers on record and upon hearing the arguments, now the points that arose for consideration are, 1. Whether the opposite party bank made deficiency in service against the complainant towards the calculation of rate of interest and also the opposite party bank failed to apply the agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme 2008 to the complainant to his Tractor Loan? 2. To what relief? Point No.1: In this case as per the averments of the complainant, he had obtained Tractor Loan for his agriculture purpose from opposite party bank, the opposite party bank shown the installment amount as Rs.45,360/- in the manual statement and in the computer statement it was shown as 41,231/-. As per the complainant the opposite party bank claimed rate of interest excess which is against the loan agreement and also calculated the interests in monthly wise against to calculate the same by half yearly. And also submitted that the opposite party bank failed to apply the Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme 2008 to the complainant as per the guidelines of Reserve Bank of India and claiming amount which will cause monetary loss and which in no way be compensated. As such the complainant approached the Forum for redressal. It is seen from the record that the complainant purchased a tractor by obtaining loan from opposite party bank in which the complainant has to pay the installments by half yearly and also the opposite party bank has to calculate rate of interest half yearly only. But in our observations in the loan account statement submitted by the complainant the opposite party bank calculated the interest by monthly wise. The same was admitted by the opposite party bank in their letter dated 24-06-2010, addressed to banking Ombudsman, Hyderabad, which is marked as Ex.A5. In that they worded that “Due to our software problem in bank, the system debited the interest. Hence we shall reverse the excess interest amount of Rs.30,631/- shall be reversed/refunded after seeking due permission from our controlling authorities”. And also the opposite party bank submitted that the complainant is not a small farmer, however the opposite party bank given relief for an amount of Rs.20,000/- and the same is credited to the Tractor Loan account on 31-12-2009, an amount of Rs.13,400/- was reversed and credited to the loan account on 09-07-2010 as the interest charged on the eligible amount. It is pertinent to note that the complainant is a customer of opposite party bank by obtaining Tractor Loan, having aggrieved because of the irregular interests imposed by the opposite party bank and also from the record, it is clear that the opposite party bank officials made so many irregularities in the complainant loan account. And also observed that after filing the complaint before this forum and before ombudsman, then only the opposite party bank officials come forward and credited and reversed/refunded amounts excess claimed. We have gone through the guidelines of the Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme 2008 filed by the complainant. As per the above scheme, the agricultural loan includes purchase of Tractor/bullocks carts. And also as per the R.B.I., guidelines the opposite party bank officials have to implement the scheme to “small, marginal and other farmers”. The farmer classified as ‘Other Farmer’ eligible for DTS relief shall give an undertaking agreeing to pay his share for not more than 3 installments. As per Ex.A9, the Ministry of Finance, Government of India has extended the last date under OTS up to 30-06-2010 from Ex.A4, the complainant approached the ombudsman for his grievance, then after he approached this Forum. The opposite party came in a way and adjusted the interest amount and implemented Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme to the complainant loan account after making complaints by the complainant to the appropriate forms. In general, the opposite parties have to file their own documents to prove their case, but in this case the complainant collected all the relevant documents through R.T.I Act and filed before this Forum to prove his case. From the above the complainant proved his case and is eligible for refund of interest amount, implementation of Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme to his loan account and also for damages. Therefore we hold that the complainant has proved the deficiency in service of opposite party bank. Point No.2: In the result, the complaint is allowed in part, the opposite party bank is directed to adjust/refund the excess interest amount, implement Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme as per the guidelines and awarded damages of Rs.30,000/- (Rupees Thirty Thousand only) to the complainant together with interest @9% p.a. from the date of complaint till the date of actual payment. And also awarded cost of Rs.2,000/- (Rupees Two Thousand only). Dictated to the steno, transcribed by her, corrected and pronounced by us in the open forum on this the 22nd day of June, 2011. PRESIDENT MEMBER DISTRICT CONSUMERS FORUM KHAMMAM APPENDIX OF EVIDENCE Witnesses examined for complainant: -None- Witnesses examined for opposite party: -None- Exhibits marked for complainant: Ex.A1:- Statement of Account furnished by the opposite party bank to the complainant from 25-07-2000 to 01-08-2009. Ex.A2:- Challan issued by opposite party to the complainant , dt.28-01-2010. Ex.A3:- A letter submitted by the complainant to the opposite party bank dt.28-06-2010. Ex.A4:- Letter addressed to the complainant by the office of the Banking Ombudsman, dt.14-07-2010. Ex.A5:- Letter addressed by the opposite party bank to the Banking Ombudsman, dt.24-06-2010. Ex.A6:- Photocopy of certificate of Registration Tractor No. AP20-F-5784. Ex.A7:- Letter addressed to the complainant by opposite party bank, dated 04-08-2010. Ex.A8:- Circular No.81/2008, regarding Agriculture Debt Waiver & Debt Relief Scheme-2008. Ex.A9:- Agricultural Debt Waiver and Debt Relief Scheme, 2008 – Implementation circular 1/2008. Ex.A10:- Statement of account in respect of A/c No.402909040990084. Ex.A11:- Recalculation of interest @14.5% by opposite party dated 10-07-2010. Ex.A12:- Photo copy of OTS dated extension circular dated 19-04-2010. Exhibits marked for opposite party:- -Nil- PRESIDENT MEMBER DISTRICT CONSUMERS FORUM KHAMMAM | |
