AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat State Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission ordered Standard Chartered Bank to pay Rs 50,000 compensation to a Thaltej resident, Deven Dagli, for reporting his ‘default status’ to CIBIL after he discontinued his credit card.
Besides ordering compensation for deficiency in service and mental torture, the commission also ordered on January 29 for removal of Dagli’s ‘default status’ on the bank’s reporting and ordered the bank to pay Rs 10,000 extra to him towards legal expenditure.
Dagli was availing of the bank’s credit card facility before 2001. He was unhappy with the service and complained that the bank was wrongly imposing charges with interest though all dues were cleared. He discontinued the service. He was assured by the bank that the credit card service was cancelled and he would not get statement any further.
However, the bank continued to send him statements with additional interest. The bank even sent recovery agents to his residence on several occasions. In Apil 2001, he wrote to the bank and demanded an explanation about pending dues, if any. He did not receive anything in reply. But recovery agents continued to visit him later that year.
A decade later Dagli opted for a loan and faced a problem. To his surprise, the bank reported him to Credit Information Bureau of India Ltd (CIBIL) as a defaulter and his default status was an impediment in availing of credit.
Dagli sued the bank in 2014 for Rs 40 lakh compensation for harassment. His advocate Sandip Shah placed documents to establish the alleged harassment by the bank by wrongly reporting him to CIBIL without following the procedure prescribed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The bank appeared before the commission through a lawyer, but did not reply to the complaint.
After hearing the case, the commission observed that customer confidentiality is required to be maintained but the bank revealed information without the consent of the complainant.
The commission said, “The said illegal action can be said to be a deficiency in service rendered by the opponent. Therefore, the complainant is entitled to compensation.” It rejected Dagli’s demand of Rs 40 lakh for lack of evidence of any loss to this effect. But it ordered the bank to pay Rs 60,000 in two months. If not paid within the stipulated period, the bank will have to pay Rs 5,000 extra.