The Ernakulam Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has issued an order directing the Pezhakkapilly branch of the State Bank of India in Muvattupuzha to repay the amount that a customer had lost from his account owing to fraudulent withdrawal of money.
Salim P.M. of Vazhapilly in Muvattupuzha had approached the commission seeking an order directing the bank to disburse around ₹70,000 out of the ₹1.6 lakh that was withdrawn fraudulently from his account in December 2018. The bank had repaid ₹90,000 to him after he received a favourable order from the Banking Ombudsman earlier.
The bank had said it was not responsible for paying the amount as there was no deficiency in service or unfair trade practice reported on its part. The bank had sent SMS alerts to the complainant for the ATM withdrawals from his account. He was duty-bound to abide by the terms and conditions of the bank, it had said.
An order issued by the commission dated July 29 said the complainant was not duty-bound to read all the messages, and that some of them were received during night hours. The bank was asked to return ₹70,000 with interest from the date of loss of the amount. The commission also said the bank should pay ₹10,000 as compensation to him along with ₹5,000 as the cost of proceedings to the complainant.
