CHENNAI: A city consumer forum has directed Union Bank to ‘search and find’ the original property sale deed and return the same to a borrower within a month or be penalised Rs 25,000 for failure to do the same. The forum said the amount would be payable within six weeks from the date of receipt of the copy of this order.
The complainant, D Pandian, had availed himself of a housing loan of Rs 5 lakh from the bank’s Indiranagar branch here on April 26, 2004 and had created an equitable mortgage by depositing the original sale deed registered in the Sub Registrar Office, Triplicane.
Pandian had repaid the entire loan amount with interest as well and the bank too had issued a letter in this regard on October 13, 2011. When he approached the bank to get back the original documents the bank admitted that the documents were missing.
The bank claimed that the compensation claimed by Pandian of Rs 5.5 lakh was ‘exorbitant.’ It said that the compensation policy granted a maximum of Rs 10,000. “In the event of loss of title deeds to mortgage property at the hands of the bank the compensation will cover out-of-pocket expenses for obtaining duplicate documents plus a lump sum amount Rs 100/-per day beyond 15 days subject to a maximum of Rs 10,000/- or as may be decided by the bank from time to time”.
“The opposite party (the bank) took a stand that they have not received the original document and filed CMP 362/2017 with a prayer to issue of sub poena to Sub Registrar, Triplicane, accordingly the sub poena also issued by this Forum,” the District Consumer Redressal Forum, Chennai (South) presided over by the President M Mony said. “The Sub Registrar, Triplicane also submitted that the original registered sale deed was received by the opposite party bank Assistant Manager. This proves the opposite party raised a false allegation.”