Date of Filing : 04.01.2011
Date of Order : 05.08.2011
BEFORE THE II ADDITIONAL DISTRICT CONSUMER
DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM,
SESHADRIPURAM, BANGALORE – 560 020
Dated 5th AUGUST 2011
PRESENT
Sri. S.S. NAGARALE, B.A., LL.B. (SPL) …. President
Smt. D. LEELAVATHI, M.A., LL.B. …. Member
Sri. BALAKRISHNA V. MASALI, B.A., LL.B.(SPL) …. Member
COMPLAINT NO. 22 / 2011
Sri. M. Rajakumar,
S/o. Mallikarjuna Gowda,
Aged about 41 years,
R/at: No. 28, Sambrama,
Vinayaka Layout, Jnanabharathi Post,
Nagadevana Hally,
Bangalore – 560 056. ……. Complainant
V/s.
The Tata AIG Life Insurance Co. Ltd.,
Zone Office, 3rd Floor, Rathnam’s Complex,
10/5, Kasturba Road,
Bangalore – 560 001. …… Opposite Party
ORDER
(By the President Sri. S.S. Nagarale)
This Complaint is filed by the Complainant u/s. 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
Brief facts of the case are that Complainant is a very busy Advocate and also Central Government standing Counsel. OP Company introduced Nirvana Plus Policy. Complainant issued Cheque for Rs.1,639/- on 29.10.2004. OP issued Bond on 02.11.2004. Complainant was very sincere in paying premium amount every quarterly. Due to change in address, OP telephonically informed that 2 premiums were due. He was very busy in the Court work. He personally approached the office of OP on 11.07.2008. OP insisted the Complainant that premium is due from 29.10.2006 and he has paid Rs.12,858/- by Cheque on 11.07.2008. Complainant did not receive any communication from the OP regarding premium payment notice. Complainant sent a notice dtd. 12.04.2010 to OP. OP had sent refund Cheque for Rs.12,858/- on 27.02.2009 to the Complainant and requested the Complainant to remit the amount of Rs.25,705/- by 27.05.2010 along with Health Certificate. Actually Complainant is due only for Rs.8,195/- and OP demanding excess amount. It is stated by the Complainant that he did not refund the said amount as per OP’s demand. Complainant prayed that OP be directed to pay Rs.80,000.00, double the policy amount and compensation of Rs.2.00 Lakhs.
2. OP has filed version stating that complaint is not maintainable. Therefore, it deserves to be dismissed. There is no deficiency of service on the part of OP. Complaint is filed without any valid ground. Policy came to be lapsed due to non payment of quarterly renewal premium amount of Rs.1,656/- on 29.10.2006. Complainant made request for the reinstatement of policy on 14.07.2008. When no reply was forthcoming from the Complainant, OP Company sent refund Cheque for an amount of Rs.12,858/- on 27.02.2009 to the mailing address of the Complainant. However, same was returned undelivered. Therefore, OP prayed to dismiss the Complaint.
3. Both parties have filed their affidavit evidence and produced the documents. Arguments are heard.
4. Points for consideration are as under:
(1) Whether the Complainant has proved deficiency of service on the part of OP?
(2) Whether the Complainant is entitled for relief ?
(3) What order & relief ?
5. By going through the Complaint averments, one cannot make out what is the case of the Complainant. The exact grievance of the Complainant cannot be made out by the reading the Complainant’s averments carefully. Therefore, Complaint is very vague and it is not clear. It is not clear as to what relief Complainant wants. Complainant is not in a position to explain the deficiency of service made by the OP. Complainant has not produced any original documents to substantiate his claim. Original Health Certificate obtained by the Complainant is also not produced. The Policy obtained by the Complainant had lapsed due to non payment of premium as per the policy terms & conditions. The Complainant requested for the reinstatement of the Policy, for that OP demanded some explanation and documents and OP also demanded payment of Rs.1,554/- for the reinstatement of the policy by their letter and without getting any reply from the Complainant, OP Company had sent refund Cheque for Rs.12,858/- on 25.02.2009. But, the said Cheque was not received by the Complainant and it was returned back to the OP since undelivered. Even now OP is ready to refund the available amount of Rs.12,858/- in the policy. The Learned Counsel for the OP submitted that OP is ready to give Cheque for Rs.12,858/- to the Complainant which is the amount available in the Policy to the Complainant. The Learned Counsel for the OP submitted that if the Complainant wants reinstatement, in that case also OP Company is ready to reinstate the Policy subject to payment of Rs.12,847/- by the Complainant. Therefore, two options are available to the Complainant. If he wants refund of amount, OP Company is ready to pay Rs.12,858/-. The other option is if the Complainant wants to continue/reinstate the policy, in that case he has to pay Rs.12,847/- to the OP Company. These were the two options available to the Complainant. OP has sent Cheque for Rs.12,858/- to the Complainant and the said Cheque was undelivered and the amount is still with OP. Therefore, OP has to pay interest on Rs.12,858/- from 11.07.2008 till date of payment i.e., till the date of giving fresh Cheque. OP is bound to pay the interest on the amount available with them. Of course, the Complainant has not received the Cheque sent by the OP. With this observation, I proceed to pass the following:
ORDER
Complaint is allowed. OP is directed to pay Rs.12,858/- along with interest @ 9% P.A. from 11.07.2008 till the date of payment. OP is directed to comply the Order within 30 days from the date of this Order.
Send copy of this Order to both the parties free of cost immediately.
Pronounced in the Open Forum on this 5th day of August 2011.
Order accordingly
PRESIDENT
We concur the above findings
MEMBER MEMBER
SSS
