Faulty withdrawal from account: IOB told to compensate customer in Kerala capital

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) has directed Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) to pay compensation for a faulty withdrawal from a woman customers account. The complainant was a family pensioner who held a savings bank account with an IOB branch in Thiruvananthapuram. According to the customers complaint, on June 17, 2011, `28,000 was withdrawn from her account using a cheque issued by a stranger drawn in favour of a brick manufacturer. Within a few hours, the cheque was cancelled and money was remitted back. Later that day, the same amount was withdrawn through the same cheque. On July 14, her son identified the debit and took the matter up with the bank. The bank credited the amount, along with interest, to her account the same day. According to the bank, the cheque was presented for payment over the counter and it was honoured by mistakenly debiting SB account No. 9550 instead of SB Account No 9559 which had sufficient balance to honour the cheque. IOB said both the account holders have the same first name and that the erroneous debit was rectified upon receiving intimation. The bank however, did not explain the first withdrawal from the account. The complainant however alleged that the other account was held by a woman whose husband was an employee of the bank and it was a forgery in connivance with bank officials. The Thiruvananthapuram district consumer disputes redressal commission had earlier issued an order in favour of the complainant. It asked the bank to provide `50,000 as compensation and `5,000 as costs. Subsequently, the bank filed an appeal with the SCDRC. An SCDRC bench comprising its president Justice B Sudheendra Kumar, judicial member Ajith Kumar D and member K R Radhakrishnan considered the case. Based on the evidence on record, the SCDRC found that the entire transaction was done through an online facility. On entering the account number of a particular customer, all details, including the statement of account of that particular customer alone, are displayed on the monitor. If the passing official had verified the account number and signature, the cheque could not have been honoured. The evidence showed that the employees wife withdrew money from the complainants account through a forgery in connivance with bank officials, the panel held. Besides upholding the district commissions order, the SCDRC directed the bank to pay an additional `20,000 as costs to the complainant. SCDRCs observation Based on the evidence on record, the SCDRC found that the entire transaction was done through an online facility. If the passing official had verified the account number and signature, the cheque could not have been honoured. The evidence showed that the employees wife withdrew money from the complainants account through a forgery in connivance with bank officials, the panel held.