The Hindu : A dispute over Rs. 50 settled after seven years

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 19, 2003

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National

A dispute over Rs. 50 settled after seven years

By J. Venkatesan

NEW DELHI FEB. 18. It was a dispute over Rs. 50, a levy charged by Canara Bank for issue of 50 MICR cheque leaves. The customer took exception to this levy and the matter went from consumer courts to the Supreme Court, which has ruled in favour of the bank.

Upholding the levy, a Bench, comprising Justice Brijesh Kumar and Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, observed that recently there had been large-scale change and improvement in the working, the method and the manner of functioning of various institutions, including banks.

Further, very many services, which were not available earlier, had been introduced with the aid of mechanical and technological devices. Computerisation had its own effect, one of which was introduction of the MICR cheques, and it facilitated faster clearance and avoided time-consuming process.

The Bench said that to say that the MICR cheques were introduced only for the facility of the bank would not be correct. So was the argument that it could not be permissible for the bank to make up some amount of cost incurred in introducing new and modern infrastructure for improving its working.

There was no instruction at all from the Reserve Bank of India that banks should not charge any amount for issuing the MICR cheques to their customers.

"We also feel that for such small charges necessitated due to general modernisation of its functioning and services, the question of it being unilateral does not arise nor does the question of consent of each customer," the Bench added and dismissed the appeal from the customer challenging the decision of the National Disputes Redressal Commission rejecting the plea.

In this case, Archana M. Kamath approached the Bombay Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum challenging the bank's decision in charging Rs. 50 for the MICR cheques and the Forum ordered refund of the amount to the customer.

After the bank's appeal was dismissed by the Maharashtra State Commission, it approached the National Commission, which upheld the bank's contention. Undaunted, the customer moved the Supreme Court, which dismissed the appeal.

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