MUMBAI:
Abdul Khan
defaulted in repayment of a
vehicle loan taken from IndusInd Bank
. So it was repossessed by the bank and auctioned at a nominal price. Khan filed a complaint before the district forum. The bank contested the case. The Forum held the bank guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.
Saif Ali Khan Health Update
The bank appealed to the State Commission which observed that the Forum had awarded more than what Khan had claimed. So it reduced the amount to Rs 3,60,000 with 9% interest and granted cost of Rs 10,000.
The bank then went in revision. The
National Commission
noted that the bank was unable to produce proof that the notice had been sent to Khan regarding the default as also the pre-sale notice regarding the auction. Also, the auction was not advertised in any newspaper. Neither was a valuation of the vehicle done nor was a reserve price fixed due to which a two-year-old vehicle costing Rs 17,60,000 was sold for merely Rs 7,00,000.
In its order of March 19, delivered by Dinesh Singh, the National Commission indicted the bank for not adhering to the fundamental requirements of an auction and for violation of basic financial and vigilance tenets. It held this to be a gross deficiency in service as well as an unfair trade practice.
While upholding the order of the State Commission in Khan's favour, the Commission imposed additional punitive cost of Rs 1 lakh payable by the bank to Consumer Legal Aid after recovering it from the errant officials following an inquiry.
(The author is a consumer activist and has won the Govt. of India's National Youth Award for
Consumer Protection
. His email is jehangir.gai.columnist@outlook.in)