In a recent judgment the state consumer disputes redressal commission instructed ICICI bank to pay Rs 30,000 in compensation to Kalyan Kumar Sur, a resident of Dum Dum’s RN Guha Road.
The bank has been charged for wrongly debiting customers credit card account and sending him monthly statements even after he had surrendered the card.
In its order the commission said a copy of the order must be sent to the Reserve Bank of India governor, “so the RBI is aware how the business of a reputed private bank is conducted and how the credit card-holders are taken for a ride”.
The complainant Sur was holding a Gold Credit Card and his wife Sarbani an add-on card of ICICI Bank. On December 30, 2004, Sarbani made purchase worth Rs 183.95 using her card and repaid the amount on February 1, 2005.
Sur alleged that the dues were cleared within the deadline of interest-free repayment, then also the bank in the statement issued on February 2, 2005, levied a late payment charge of Rs 250 and service tax of Rs 25. This, along with other purchases, took the closing balance to Rs 655.
Therefore Sur approached the bank and he was assured by the bank officials that the mistake would be rectified. But it was not. In spite of repeated reminders sent by Sur to bank authority for the irregularity, the subsequent statements kept charging the couple interest and service tax.
In the statement of September 9, 2005, bank showed the charges of Rs 29,827, which the bank claimed was a “debit transaction” in the earlier month. The closing balance in October 2005 was around Rs 42,000 and the bank asked Sur to pay up immediately.
Although couple had stopped making purchases using the cards, the debit balance kept increasing in the subsequent months, prompting Sur to ask for proof of his taking any loan from the bank.
Sur had returned the credit card to the bank in January 2006 after tearing it apart.
A lawyer’s notice was sent to him by the bank asking him to clear all the dues immediately. At this Sur filed a complaint with the Calcutta District Consumer Forum II, alleging that the bank could not produce any evidence of providing him a loan and yet was threatening him to “repay the dues”.
After hearing the case the forum slapped compensation of Rs 1 lakh on ICICI Bank. The bank then moved the state commission against the order, denying the allegations of Sur.
“The allegations of the complainant were without any basis, since he had failed to adduce satisfactory evidence in support of his contention,” the bank told the commission.
But banks plea was dismissed by the state panel and asked it to pay a compensation of Rs 30,000 to Sur.
“We are yet to get the certified copy of the order. Once we receive it, the course of action will be planned,” said a bank official.
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