LI Network
Published on: 05 September 2023 at 21:50 IST
The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) has imposed a fine of Rs 25 lakh on ICICI Bank as compensation for the loss of original property title documents belonging to a customer who had submitted them to the bank for the purpose of securing a housing loan.
Presiding Member Subhash Chandra presided over the hearing of the complaint, which was lodged by Manoj Madhusudhanan, represented by advocate Swetank Shantanu. The complaint alleged a deficiency in services provided by the bank.
According to the complaint, in April 2016, ICICI Bank approved a housing loan of Rs 1.86 crore in Bangalore. Following the execution of the sale deed, the bank retained several crucial original property documents, including the registered sale deed and possession certificate. However, the bank failed to provide scanned or true copies of these documents to the customer.
In June 2016, Madhusudhanan filed a complaint when the bank informed him that the documents had gone missing in transit from Bangalore to its central storage facility in Hyderabad, courtesy of a courier company.
Given the bank’s failure to resolve the issue, Madhusudhanan sought assistance from the Banking Ombudsman, who, in September 2016, instructed the bank to issue duplicate copies of the lost documents, publish a public notice concerning the loss, and compensate the complainant with Rs 25,000 for the deficiency in service.
Subsequently, Madhusudhanan escalated the matter to the national consumer commission, alleging the bank’s “extreme negligence” and emphasizing that “copies of documents cannot replace the sanctity of the original documents.” He demanded Rs 5 crore in compensation for the mental distress and losses he endured.
The NCDRC reviewed the available evidence and determined that seeking compensation from the bank due to the deficiency in service was a valid claim.
The commission underscored that the present issue pertained to compensation for service deficiency and indemnifying the complainant against any potential future losses. Importantly, it asserted that the bank could not shift responsibility onto the courier company.
The NCDRC affirmed that the Banking Ombudsman had already established the existence of service deficiency. Considering the case’s facts and circumstances, the commission ruled in favor of the complainant against ICICI Bank.
The commission directed the bank to bear the costs of obtaining all reconstructed and properly certified copies of the documents initially submitted as security during the registration of the sale deed for the housing loan.
Furthermore, ICICI Bank was instructed to pay a compensation sum of Rs 25 lakh for the service deficiency and an additional Rs 50,000 to cover litigation costs.