The District Consumer Forum in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, on July 3 imposed a fine of Rs 15,000 on ICICI Bank for misplacing a cheque and causing mental agony to a customer.
The applicant, a shopkeeper of Tawang Nehru Market, had deposited an ICICI Bank cheque amounting Rs 55,985 in his State Bank of India account at Tawang branch. The amount was not credited to his account and the delay resulted in expiry of the validity of the cheque.
When the customer approached the bank officials, they could not provide any valid response.
The shopkeeper then approached the District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum in Tawang for justice against the deficiencies in service of the bank.
The forum quickly took note of the complaint and admitted the case. It was found that the cheque was forwarded by SBI Tawang for local clearance to ICICI Tawang branch. ICICI Tawang branch, due to some technical reasons, forwarded the cheque to Tezpur branch for further action but it got misplaced.
The whole fiasco was not clearly told to the customer and he was rather asked to move from one table to another causing mental agony to the customer.
The Forum noted that the bank did not carry on their duty properly and denied its customer of proper service. They never requested the customer for re-issue of the cheque but made him go from desk to desk.
The Forum in its interim order directed the ICICI Tawang branch to take all necessary steps to clear the cheque amount, which was fully complied with. The customer also received a compensation of Rs 15,000.
District Consumer Protection officer Tawang, Kesang Tashi informed that the case would have been disposed-off much earlier but due to the ongoing pandemic situation and lockdowns it got stretched. He further added that consumers should be aware and know their rights and bring it to the notice of Consumer Dispute Redressal Forums if there is any deficiency in services.
