Syndicate Bank told to pay Rs 1.2L to complainant

Ajay Joshi

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Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 12

The District Consumer Forum has directed the Syndicate Bank to pay Rs 64,650 to a city resident for wrongfully deducting money from his account. The amount was reported to have illegally deducted from the account of the complainant in the name of ‘Return Charges’. The bank has also been directed to pay Rs 45,000 as compensation to the resident for causing mental tension and harassment and Rs 10,000 as litigation expenses.

The complainant, Surinder Pal, a resident of Rama Mandi, in his complaint registered with the forum, mentioned that in 2016 he had taken a loan of Rs 6,90,000 from Syndicate Bank, situated at Sethi Complex, Rama Mandi, for which a monthly installment of Rs10,150 was fixed. Pal used to deposit the installments with the bank on a regular basis. However, after a few months he met with an accident and subsequently requested the bank officials to get the installment deducted from his salary account in HDFC Bank. The complainant was also under the belief that the installments were being deducted from his salary account regularly and were being credited in the loan account of the complainant lying with the Syndicate Bank.

However, the Syndicate Bank served a notice upon the complainant under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002 on account of non-payment of installments of the loan amount and it was further brought to the notice of the complainant that the account of the complainant had been classified as non-performing asset on September 29,2016. After receiving the letter, Pal approached the bank officials for confirming the fact about non-deducting of the installments from the salary account of the complainant despite the fact that he had requested them to deduct the installment from the salary. However, instead of hearing his grievances, the complainant alleged that the bank officials deducted over Rs 2 lakh from his saving account as compensation.

Unable to get the matter resolved from the bank’s end, the complainant approached the consumer court. Meanwhile, some portion of the deducted amount was transferred into the account of the complainant and the bank officials in their joint reply maintained that the complaint of the complainant was not justified and held him responsible for not paying the installments. Whereas, the consumer court bench headed by its president Karnail Singh and member Jyotsa accepted Pal’s complaint held bank officials responsible for not considering the written request of the complainant.

The bank was directed to refund Rs64,650 to the complainant with yearly interest of 12% from the date of filing complaint, relief of Rs45,000 for causing mental tension and harassment and Rs10,000 as litigation expenses.