Consumer Court Ruling In Fraud Case

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The consumer court directed a private bank to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation along with Rs 35,984 and interest which the victim\complainant had lost in a credit card fraud.

The compensation was awarded because the bank had not cancelled the credit card even though the victim had given a written application. According to information, Akash Dubey had gone to the bank on February 22, 2019, to get his credit card cancelled as he was not using it and also gave a written application.

However, the bank official told him there was no need to cancel the card as it would get cancelled automatically if he did not use it for one year. Believing the official, Dubey never bother to check the credit card. Meanwhile, he also discontinued the use of the mobile number registered with the credit card.

On December 6, 2019, Dubey receives and email which stated that Rs 35,984 have been debited from his account on November 27, 2017. He immediately approached bank to enquire about the same and gave an application. He was assured that they would investigate the matter and revert within 45 days.

However, the bank did not get back to him. Dubey reapplied for an investigation on January 29, 2020. In response, the bank claimed that the transaction was OTP protected and money could not be deducted from the account until the OTP is shared.

However, after investigation the consumer court concluded that the complainant did not have access to the registered mobile number and it was bank’s responsibility to share the transaction details within 3 days. Court said that customer’s appeal to cancel the card was rejected by the bank and no proper investigation was held.

Court found bank guilty and has ordered them to pay Rs 35984 with 8 per cent yearly interest along with Rs 50,000 as compensation within one month of judgment.