The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum here has directed the Union Bank of India to pay Rs. 7,000 as compensation and costs to a customer within a month for deficiency of service.
According to the complainant, M.S. Purushothaman of Kamarajar Salai here, he had a savings bank account with the Union Bank of India, Mettupalayam Road, Thudiyalur (Post), Coimbatore. He was provided an ATM card by the bank. Under the Cash Tree Bank Scheme, he could operate with a couple of other banks other than the Union Bank of India.
On October 19, 2005, Mr. Purushothaman tried to withdraw Rs. 15,000 from an ATM of Indian Bank, Vilakkuthoon Branch here but could receive only Rs. 700. Though he immediately checked his account through the same ATM using his card, the statement showed he had withdrawn Rs. 15,000 and the bank had charged Rs. 10 as service charge, thus debiting a total of Rs 15,010.
Based on the suggestion of the authorities at the Indian Bank branch, he preferred a complaint with the Coimbatore bank but there was no response.
Meanwhile, Mr. Purushothaman, who had a balance of Rs. 17,535 in his account, had issued a cheque for Rs. 5,000 to a dealer on October 20, 2005. However, the cheque was returned owing to “insufficient funds.”
He approached the forum seeking legal redressal. Arguing for the complainant, A.C. Kumaresan, advocate, submitted that the Union Bank of India be directed to pay Rs. 15,000 towards loss of money, Rs. 50,000 as compensation for mental agony to him and Rs. 1,000 towards costs.
Forum president K. Rajagopal, in his order, observed that there was no controversy in respect of the facts submitted by the complainant. Though he had informed the problem at once, there was no proof from the bank to show that they had taken immediate action to verify the particulars. Instead, only on December 7, 2005, a sum of Rs. 14,300 had been credited to the account after deducting Rs. 700. The Indian Bank had in its reply on October 26, 2005, stated that the transaction was for Rs. 700 only and that the transactions between members of cash tree were settled in Mumbai only.
The forum further observed that the Union Bank of India had not shown urgency to solve the problem. Defects were bound to arise in ATM machines and some procedures had been established to redeem the money. In the case of returning the cheque for Rs. 5,000 too, the account holder had been penalised for no fault on his part, the forum observed.
