West Bengal

Darjeeling

CC/14/2022

Puran Chhetri Khulal - Complainant(s)

Versus

Manager, State Bank of India - Opp.Party(s)

24 Nov 2023

ORDER

F I N A L O R D E R
One application has been filed by the complainant u/s 35 of the C.P. Act
2019 against the O.P bank alleging deficiency in service due to loss of money
amounting to Rs 64,000/-( Rupees Sixty Four Thousand only) which was debited
from his account by unauthorized use of credit card on 04/11/2018 and the
complainant files this case against the O.P bank as the outstanding dues was
showing Rs. 92066.91/-( Rupees Ninety Two Thousand Sixty Six and paisa
Ninety One only) against the said credit card and therefore, the complainant
files this case for settlement of the disputes and further prays for
compensation of Rs. 1,00,000/-( Rupees One Lakh Only) for mental pain,
sufferings and for monetary loss etc and further Rs. 50,000/- ( Fifty Thousand
only) for cost of the proceedings.
The sum and substance of the case of the complainant that he is a
customer of the O.P No 1 bank and he is maintaining a savings bank account
with O.P NO:- 1Bank, being Account No 20343266086 since 07/02/2018 and he
was provided with one credit card in his favor, being Credit Card No. 4377-
4878-1521-5179.
It is the allegation of the complainant that on 06/11/2018 the complainant
had received one message from the O.P bank through SMS informing the
complainant that his credit card had been blocked for security reasons. It is
further stated by the complainant that on 04/11/2018 he received one phone
call from the mobile No. 9667473912 and the caller told the complainant that
his credit card was still blocked and in pretext of the activation of the said card
the caller told 16 digit numbers of the card and 4 digit back side numbers and
also asked for CCV number from him. The caller also told the complainant that the complainant would get OTP for
Rs. 50,000/-(Rupees Fifty Thousand only) and Rs. 14,000/- (Fourteen Thousand
Only) respectively and the card would be activated. Thereafter, the
complainant received one message on his mobile for spending Rs. 64,000/-only
which was done using the said credit card.
On the said date the complainant had tried to contact the helpline number
of the SBI credit card but he did not receive any response from them. The
complainant also contacted SBI online service but the matter was not settled.
Finding no other alternative the complainant filed written complaint to the
O.P Bank on 10/12/2018 and thereafter lodged the written complaint before
the O/C Rangli Rangliot Police station on 13/01/2019 and on the basis of the
said written complaint, the O.C of the concerned P.S station started a specific
case, being Rangli Rangliot P.S case No. 02/19, dated 13/01/2019, U/S 419/420
I.P.C and after completion of the investigation said police authority submitted
final report (FRT) before the Ld. C.J.M, Darjeeling and which was accepted by
the Ld. Court.
The Complainant further stated that he never used the said card nor had
made any online transactions through the said credit card but an amount of
Rs. 64,000/- was debited from the complainant’s account and the outstanding
dues was showing Rs. 92,066.91/- on his mobile number and the complainant
requested the O.Ps to rectify the errors and settle the disputes but the problem
of the complainant has not been redressed and the complainant files this
complaint before this Commission with a prayer for settlement of the
outstanding dues amounting to Rs 92,066.91/- with the O.P bank and further
prays for compensation of Rs 1 lakh( One Lakh only) for mental pain, sufferings
and monetary loss etc and further Rs. 50,000/- for the cost of the proceedings. The complainant along with his complaint petition files some relevant
documents such as :-
1. Copy of the O.P bank account.
2. Copy of the credit card.
3. Copy of the letter issued dated 10/12/2018 to the O.P bank.
4. Copy of the formal F.I.R
5. Copy of the notice issued by the P.S authority to the O.P bank
6. Settlement letter of the O.P bank dated 16/07/2019
7. Copy of the Aadhar Card of the Complainant.
The Complainant along with the complaint petition filed another petition
U/S 69 of the C.P Act, 2019 praying for condonation of delay which was allowed
by this Commission. The notices were issued to the O.Ps and both the O.Ps
received their respective notices, but the O.Ps did not file any W/V within the
statutory period of time. Therefore, the case has been proceeded ex-parte
against the O.P No 1 & 2.
During hearing of the case the Complainant adduced evidence through
Affidavit-in- Chief and filed some documents as mentioned herein above.
The O.P No 2 filed one petition for filing questionnaire against the Evidence
of the complainant and this Commission allowed said prayer and gave one
chance for filing questionnaire, but later on the O.P No 2 did not file any
questionnaire and therefore, the chance for filing questionnaire by the O.P No.
2 was closed and the case was fixed for argument. The ex- parte argument was
heard from the complainant side and the Ld. Advocate for the Complainant
filed Written Brief Notes of Arguments. From the complaint petition, evidence of the complainant and available
documents on record the following points have been framed:-
1. Is the complainant a Consumer?
2. Are the O.Ps deficient in providing services?
3. Is the complainant entitled to get any relief as prayed for?

Decision with Reasons

All the points have been taken up together for the sake of brevity and
avoidance and repetition of facts.
It is seen from the evidence of the complainant and other materials on
record that the complainant is a customer of the O.P-1 bank and he is
maintaining one saving bank account, being A/C No. 20343266086 and the O.P
bank has issued one credit card in favor of the complainant, being Credit Card
No:- 4377-4878-1521-5179. The dispute involved in the case is a consumer
dispute.
Therefore, we are of the view that the Complainant is a Consumer under
the O.Ps as per the provision laid down U/S 2(7) of the C.P Act, 2019.

Now, in order to ascertain whether the O.Ps were negligent and deficient in
service or not we have to scrutinize the evidence of the complainant once
again.
It is seen from the evidence of the complainant that the O.P bank had
issued one credit card as mentioned hereinabove in favor of the complainant
and the complainant had received one SMS on his mobile number on
06/11/2018 to the effect that his card has been blocked for security reasons. It is further stated by the complainant in his evidence that on 04/11/2019
he had received one phone call from unknown number, being No: 9667473912
and the unidentified caller told the complainant the 16 digit numbers of the
card and 4 digit back side numbers of the same for the pretext of activation of
the card and also asked for CCV number from the complainant. It is further
stated by the complainant that the caller further told him that he would get
two OTPs for Rs 50,000/-( Rupees Fifty Thousand only) and 14,000/-( Rupees
Fourteen Thousand Only) each and the card would be activated soon.
Subsequently he had receive one message for spending Rs. 64,000/-( Rupees
Sixty Four Thousand only) by using the said card and the complainant soon
thereafter tried to contact the helpline number of the SBI credit card, but he
did not get any response from them.
Finding no other alternative, the complainant filed written complaint to the
O.P No:1 Bank on 10/12/2018 and thereafter lodged one written complaint
before the O/C Rangli Rangliot Police station on 13/01/2019 and on the basis of
the said written complaint the O.C of the concerned P.S station started a
specific case, being Rangli Rangliot P.S case No. 02/19 dated 13/01/2019, U/S
419/420 I.P.C and after completion of the investigation said police authority
submitted final report (FRT) before the Ld. C.J.M, Darjeeling and which was
accepted by the Ld. Court.
It is relevant to state that the Complainant did not approach the Cyber
Crime Police Station for the alleged cyber crime /fraud committed by any
unknown fraudsters and the reason is not disclosed by him in his evidence.
The Complainant further stated in his evidence that he never used the said
card nor had made any online transactions through the said credit card but anamount of Rs. 64,000/- /-( Rupees Sixty Four Thousand only)was debited
from his account and the outstanding dues was showing Rs. 92,066.91/-
( Rupees Ninety Two Thousand Sixty Six and paisa Ninety One only) on his
mobile number and the complainant requested the O.Ps to rectify the errors
and settle the disputes but the problem of the complainant has not been
redressed and the complainant files this complaint before this Commission with
the aforesaid prayers.
Now, from the evidence of the complainant and other materials on record
it is seen by us that his Credit Card was blocked on 06.11.2018 and he never
tried to unblock it by calling the SBI Card help line number as provided being
No. 1860 180 1290 or 39 02 02 02 and availed the procedures as mentioned
therein. The Complainant did not opt for activation of his card as per the
guidelines & procedures mentioned by the Bank. He never made any complaint
regarding such blocking to the O.P No:1 Bank. He also had not taken any help
from the O.P No:1 Bank. Rather, it is the version of the Complainant that he
had received one phone call from Mobile No. 9667473912 and the unidentified
and unknown person through Mobile had told the credit card details and asked
for CCV number from him and soon thereafter he had received two OTPs on his
mobile for the purchase of Rs.50,000/( Rupees Fifty Thousand only) and Rs.
14,000/( Rupees Fourteen Thousand only) respectively and thereafter he again
had received message on his mobile number for spending Rs.64,000/( Rupees
Sixty Four thousand only) by using the said card.
We failed to understand that the two OTPs had come to the phone number
of the Complainant and unless and until they were disclosed to any third party
how could one person operate it. Further, we also unable to understand how the unidentified caller disclosed the sixteen digit numbers of the card and
back side four digit numbers of it to the complainant. If he had the full
knowledge of the same, then why he had asked for CCV number from the
complainant? It is impossible to use any card unless one person knows the
details of the card and the personal secret PIN number. The complainant had
knowledge how to unblock the card, but he had never tried to unblock it as per
the guidelines of the bank. Someone unknown to him had made one call and
described the details of the card and he told him that two OTPs would reach to
his mobile for the purchase of Rs.50,000/ and Rs.14,000/ and after that his card
would be activated, though in reality he had the full consciousness and
knowledge that he had not purchased anything by using the said card. If he had
received two OTPs on his registered mobile, then how they were transmitted to
the fraudsters? Unless the Complainant disclosed the secret numbers, the
person on mobile phone on the other side could not access the same. Even, it is
improbable to use the card by anyone else except the complainant without the
knowledge of the OTPs, which came to the mobile number of the complainant
only. Had the complainant not disclosed the OTPs to anyone else, no one could
use/ operate the card. The complainant might have disclosed the secret details
of the card to the unidentified caller and passed over the OTPs to him, which
facilitated the fraudster to use the card. Further, it is obscure from the evidence
of the complainant that whether he had provided the CCV number to the
unidentified person as per his request or he had provided the OTPs to him. The
reasons for delay of making complaint more than one month to the O.P No:1
Bank has not been disclosed by the complainant. Even the Police did not find
any person guilty of the offence as alleged. No complaint had made to any cyber
P.S for the alleged cyber crime. The incident occurred in the year of 2018 but the
complainant did not approach to this Commission within the specified time as provided under the Act, but he knocked the door of this Commission only
after the police authority filed Final report in connection with the criminal case.
It is further seen from the case record that the O.P Bank had offered for
settlement of the dispute @ Rs.35,000/ ( Rupees Thirty Five thousand only) and
informed the Complainant by a letter dated 16.07.2019, but the Complainant did
not disclose anything either in his Complaint or his evidence whether he was
interested to settle the matter or not. The O.P Bank had tried to settle the
dispute @ Rs.35,000/, but the Complainant stated that the O.P Bank did not
make any attempt to settle the dispute and files this case for settlement again.
The Complainant has filed only the formal part of the F.I.R, but he did not file
any copy of complaint and complete Final Report of the P.S Concerned. In
absence of such documents we are in dark what exactly had happened with the
Complainant.
The Complainant might have disclosed the secret details of the credit card to
the unknown caller and after getting the details the person fraudulently got
access of the same and duped the complainant. It is the settled principle of law
that if the Complainant himself discloses the personal details to any unknown
person regarding his Credit Card or Debit Card, the Bank cannot be held liable for
any fraud or loss caused to the Complainant. The core area of the deciding point
whether the O.P Bank was negligent or deficient in service is totally blurred and
we are unable to find any deficiency in service on the part of the O.P bank
through the light of the evidence of the complainant.
The burden of proving the case lies upon the Complainant only and due to
lack of cogent and convincing evidence, the Complainant has failed to prove his
case. Further, in our view the Complainant has not come with clean hands as he has not filed the relevant documents and no cogent, convincing and reliable
evidence has been adduced by him in order to prove his case. The Complainant
has miserably failed to prove his case. Therefore, the case of the complainant is
liable to be dismissed.
As the point No:2 has decided against the Complainant, therefore there is no
need to discuss on point No:3.
All the points are thus discussed and disposed of.

Hence

It is ordered that the Consumer Complaint, being No:- C.C- 14 of 2022 is
dismissed Ex- Parte. No order as to cost.
Let a free Copy of the Final Order be supplied to the parties Concerned as
per the C.P. Rules, 2020.