Ernakulam District Consumer Commission Dismisses Complaint Against Indian Overseas bank For Delay In Disbursing Lottery Prize Money

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Ernakulam, Kerala dismissed a complaint against the Indian Overseas Bank filed under Section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. A Bench of Shri.D.B.Binu (President), Shri.V.Ramachandran (Member) and Smt.Sreevidhia.T.N (Member) held that the complaint was liable to be dismissed as the evidence suggested that the amount was credited to the Complainant's account belatedly and the delay in crediting the prize money was due to the late submission of the documents by the Complainant. Background The Complainant claimed to have won the 3rd prize on Christmas- New year Bumper Lottery 2020, for which he was to be paid the prize money of Rs. 10, 00,000. As per him, he submitted all the required documents as well as the lottery ticket with Indian Overseas Bank at its Udyogamandal Branch (Opposite Party). Stating that the Bank forwarded the lottery tickets and allied documents to the lottery office quite later, the Complainant alleged that he was denied the prize money. As per him, there was a delay of 151 days in the submission of the lottery ticket and the documents by the Bank. Stating further that as per the rule, the tickets were to be forwarded to the Lottery Department within 30 days in order to disburse the prize money to the Complainant, it was asserted that the Bank was deficient in its services for forwarding the ticket and documents late, hence denying him the prize money. The Complainant stated that he had suffered severe mental agony, stress and other difficulties and was later admitted in a hospital due to some heart related issues. Subsequently, complaints were sent to the Bank asking for a compensation of Rs.30,00,000 and numerous complaints were also made to the director of Kerala Lotteries, Thiruvananthapuram. Later, the Complainant approached the Commission seeking a compensation of Rs. 5,00,000 form the Bank for being liable for deficiency in service. Submissions of the Opposite Party The Bank submitted that the complaint was not maintainable as it was not a case involving a consumer and the services provided to him. It was further stated that the documents could not be forwarded to Trivandrum Main Branch of the opposite party in time because of the Covid-19 lockdown. The Counsel for the Opposite Party submitted that the Complainant enquired about the status of the lottery collection on 25/8/2020 and after verification by the Trivandrum Main Branch, some additional documents were asked for by the Bank, which were furnished by the Complainant on 3/9/2020. These documents were forwarded by the Bank on 4/9/2020. On 15/3/2021, after processing the documents, the prize money of Rs. 6,30,000 was credited to the Complainant's Bank Account. However, it took the lottery office some time to process the application as permission from the Finance Department and Govt. of Kerala was required. The Opposite Party further contended that the delay in submission and processing of documents also occurred because of the Triple Lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram city. Claiming no deficiency in services, the Opposite Party stated that an amount of Rs.10,000 was also credited to the bank account of the Complainant after he filed a complaint before the Banking Ombudsman against the opposite party. Findings of the Commission The Commission on perusing the evidence observed that the Complainant had received Rs.10,000 as compensation for the delay on part of the Opposite Party. Moreover, the approval and disbursal of the eligible prize money was made to the Complainant only on 19/1/2021, i.e., after a delay of 118 days, as the documents submitted by the Complainant were incomplete and the money was disbursed within 30 days from the date of receipt of the necessary documents. The Commission observed that the actual reason for the delay in disbursing the prize money was the submission of insufficient documents. It was held that since the prize money was disbursed right after 30 days of having submitted the necessary documents, there was no deficiency of services on part of the Opposite Party. Making these observations, the Commission dismissed the complaint with no costs. Case Title: K. Asokan versus Indian Overseas Bank Advocate for Complainant: Adv. K.S. Raju Menon Advocates for Opposite Party: Adv. K.N.Sivasankaran, Sunil Shankar, Sandhra.S., Jerin George, Gayathri.M.M, M/s K.N. Sivasankaran & Associates, Advocates, Sree Lakshmi Click Here To DownloadOrder/Judgment

Ernakulam District Consumer Commission Dismisses Complaint Against Indian Overseas bank For Delay In Disbursing Lottery Prize Money

Syed Nazarat Fatima

Tags