BENGALURU: The Bangalore Urban Second Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directed HDFC Bank to pay damages of Rs 50,000, with litigation cost of Rs 10,000 to the complainant for charging him 75 paise excess per Canadian Dollar, for transfer of money from Indian Rupee to his daughter who stayed in Canada, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Noting that the complainant had clearly established deficiency of service on the part of the bank, the Commission comprising president M Shobha, members B Devaraju and V Anuradha, also directed the bank to refund Rs 10,200 with 10 per cent interest per annum to the complainant Arvind Kumar Bhorilal (76), a resident of Bharathinagar in Bengaluru.
The Commission said though the complainant immediately brought to the notice of the bank the excess amount collected, the bank did not cooperate. With great difficulty, the complainant recovered part of the excess amount but suffered mental torture and financial loss, the Commission added.
Bhorilal approached the bank in March 2020 to transfer money to his daughter. The bank informed him they would charge 30 paise over and above the conversion charges of the dollar towards commission, and sundry charges which worked out to Rs 54.05 per dollar. Considering the complainant’s age and he being an account holder, the bank asked him to sign a blank document and a blank cheque, stating they would do the needful after confirmation from the branch concerned.
Reposing absolute trust in the bank, the complainant did so and left. Bhorilal later received a text message that the bank had transferred the money to his daughter, but at the rate of Rs 54.80 per dollar, which is 75 paise in excess of the agreed amount and prevailing repo rate. After he confronted the bank about charging excess of Rs 59,500 unlawfully, the bank justified it, but later realised the error and credited Rs 44,300 to the complainant’s account, still withholding a sum of Rs 10,000.