MADURAI: The circuit bench of the Tamil Nadu State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Madurai recently directed a nationalised bank in Kanniyakumari to pay Rs 1 as compensation to a customer for deficiency in service.
C Selvaraj of Kanniyakumari district, an account holder of the bank, encashed a cheque for Rs 89,000. As the bank had credited the money to his account, Selvaraj withdrew the same. However, the bank froze his account, and he was also asked to return the money as the cheque issuer’s account did not have sufficient funds.
Selvaraj filed a petition before the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Kanniyakumari, but the petition was dismissed in 2019. Challenging this, he filed an appeal.
The bank’s counsel admitted that the cheque was wrongly credited before it was cleared by the drawee’s bank. However, the complainant is liable to pay back the amount as per Section 72 of the Indian Contract Act, the counsel submitted.
The Commission’s Presiding Judicial Member S Karuppiah took note of the fact that Selvaraj withdrew the money only after 10 days of the money being credited to his account. The bank did not take any steps to verify the clearance by the drawee’s bank for 10 days. The bank also did not regret the mistake.
Citing the deficiencies, the complainant claimed a token amount of Rs 1 from the bank. Setting aside the earlier district commission order, the state commission found deficiency in service by the bank and ordered it to pay the token compensation of Rs 1.