TIRUNELVELI: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum here slapped a fine of Rs 14,000 on Canara Bank for deducting Rs 12 under the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana without the consent of an account holder.
On June 10, 2015, Prammanayagam, a lawyer from Palayamkottai, claimed that Rs 12 was debited from his savings account at the Palayamkottai branch of the bank.
When he contacted the branch, there was no proper reply.
Hence, Prammanayagam met the branch manager, who informed him that the money was deducted towards the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana.
When Prammanayagam questioned as to how the amount was deducted without his consent, the branch manager told him to meet the senior manager, who allegedly greeted him with a stream of expletives claiming why he was bothered about the deduction since Rs 12 was a meager amount.
An insulted Prammanayagam served noticed to the senior manager, to which there was no reply.
He filed a case with the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum.
After the case was filed, the money was promptly refunded to his account.
Prammanayagam argued that though the amount deducted was very small, the bank benefited when they deducted the same amount from a large number of customers.
Delivering a judgment on Thursday, Killivalavan, president of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, fined the bank Rs 10,000 for deficiency in service and mental agony caused.
The forum also asked the bank to pay another Rs 4,000 towards litigation charges.