In a complaint related to dishonour of the settlement by the bank in respect of credit card dues of the complainant where the bank had misplaced one cheque and the complainant was declared a defaulter for missing EMIs (equated monthly instalments) and was harassed for recovery, it was observed that the bank had caused avoidable mental harassment to the complainant without examining the issue at its end.
The bank was directed to waive the balance outstanding and pay a compensation for Rs 1 lakh towards harassment and mental anguish suffered by the complainant.
The bank submitted that the said PPF accounts were under HUF category and, as per the PPF rules; the accounts were not eligible for extension from the date of maturity and payment of interest for the period beyond the date of maturity. Hence, the branch had recovered the interest wrongly credited to complainant's account after the maturity.
On examination, it was observed that the PPF (HUF) accountholders were not eligible for the interest as claimed by them as they were expected to be aware of the Government regulations/notifications in this regard. However, the bank was found to be deficient in rendering services as they could have taken immediate action to close the account after maturity in terms of the Government Notification and RBI Guidelines.
Moreover, the bank also failed to bring this fact to the notice of the complainants. The bank was directed to pay Rs 1,000 to each complainant, by way of token compensation for loss caused to them arising out of the act of omission of the bank.
(Source: Annual report of the Banking Ombudsman Scheme.)