A bank customer who lost Rs 45,000 cash through five unauthorised withdrawals after his debit card got stuck in the ATM machine due to a power failure has been granted compensation by the Pune district consumer disputes redressal forum.
The forum not only directed the Saraswat Cooperative Bank in Kondhwa and the IndusInd Bank in Pune Camp to jointly pay Rs 45,000 to the customer but also imposed Rs 7,000 cost for service deficiency. The banks have to pay the money within six weeks from November 27 when the forum, headed by V P Utpat, passed the order.
The incident occurred when complainant V P Chaudhari, a resident of Ganeshnagar off Mohammadwadi Road who holds an account with the Saraswat Bank in Kondhwa, used the IndusInd Bank automated teller machine (ATM) at Salunkhe Vihar in Kondhwa to withdraw cash on July 20, 2014.
On the day of the incident, Chaudhari put his debit card in the IndusInd bank ATM for effecting a transaction. However, the power went off in the ATM kiosk before the transaction could be completed and Chaudhari was neither able to get the cash nor could he retrieve the card from the machine. The following day, he got alerts relating to withdrawal of Rs 45,000 from his bank account. On July 21, 2014, Chaudhari reported the matter to the bank by way of a written complaint, but there was no response. He lodged a police complaint regarding the matter on August 20, 2014.
On November 20, 2014, Chaudhari moved the district consumer court against the two banks demanding Rs 73,000, including the lost cash and compensation towards physical and mental agony.