IN THE DISTRICT CONSUMERS’ DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM AT MYSORE<br /> <br /> PRESENT: 1. Shri.D.Krishnappa<br /> B.A., L.L.B - President <br /> <br /> <br /> 2. Smt.Y.V.Uma Shenoi<br /> M.Sc., B.Ed., - Member<br /> <br /> CC 391/08 DATED 28.01.2009<br /> <br /> ORDER<br /> <br /> Complainant Suman.I., Proprietor, <br /> M/s Bharathi Enterprises, No.1158, Kurubageri, Lashkar Mohalla, Mysore.<br /> (By Sri.M.Sanjay Jain., Advocate)<br /> <br /> Vs. <br /> Opposite Party The Branch Manager, Vijaya Bank, Sayyaji Rao Road, Mysore.<br /> (By Sri.Mangala Gowramma, Advocate)<br /> <br /> Nature of complaint : Deficiency in service<br /> Date of filing of complaint : 05.12.2008<br /> Date of appearance of O.P. : 02.01.2009<br /> Date of order : 28.01.2009<br /> Duration of Proceeding : 26 DAYS<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> PRESIDENT <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> MEMBER<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Sri.D.Krishnappa,<br /> President<br /> <br /> 1. The grievance of the complainant in brief is, that he had presented a refund payment voucher of Rs.61,522/- dated 09.07.2008 issued by the Sale Tax Department, for collection to opposite party on 10.07.2008 from State Bank of Mysore. But, the opposite party instead of sending that refund payment voucher to the Treasury section of State Bank of Mysore, Main Branch, Mysore, has sent it to the District Treasury Officer, District Treasury, Mysore and that the opposite party till today has not got that amount collected and credited to his account and when enquired the opposite party who alleged to had told him that the refund payment voucher is lost and thereby stated that the opposite party has caused deficiency in the service and thereby prayed for a direction to the opposite party to pay Rs.61,522/- with interest at 18% p.a. and to award other damages.<br /> 2. The opposite party filed version to this complaint admitting receipt of refund payment voucher as contended by the complainant has further stated by oversight instead of sending that refund payment voucher to the Treasury section of State Bank of Mysore, Main Branch, Mysore sent it to the District Treasury Officer, Mysore and when they contacted the said District Treasury Officer who wrote a letter to them on 11.09.2008 stating that the refund payment voucher sent to them by the opposite party is misplaced, and thus contended that they have not caused any deficiency in their service and thereby have prayed for dismissal of the complaint.<br /> 3. In the course of enquiry into the complaint, the complainant and the opposite party have filed their affidavit evidence reproducing what they have stated in their respective complaint and version. The complainant has produced refund authorization copy, then the copies of letters that the opposite party addressed to the District Treasury Officer and to the State Bank of Mysore, Mysore. Heard and perused the records.<br /> <br /> 4. The points that arise for consideration are:-<br /> 1. Whether the complainant proves that the opposite party has caused deficiency in his service?<br /> 2. To what relief, the complainant is entitled to?<br /> 5. Our findings are as under:-<br /> Point no.1 : In the Affirmative.<br /> Point no.2 : See the final order.<br /> <br /> REASONS<br /> <br /> 6. Point no. 1:- As narrated above, the fact that the complainant had presented a refund payment voucher to opposite party on 10.07.2008 for collection of the money from Treasury section of State Bank of Mysore is not in dispute. The opposite party admitting the receipt of the repayment voucher has conceded to have committed mistake in sending that refund payment voucher to the District Treasury Officer, District Treasury, Mysore instead of sending it to the Treasury section of State Bank of Mysore. The opposite party further on the complainant reminding them of collection of money, the opposite party on 30.07.2008, and 14.08.2008 wrote letters to the District Treasury Officer to know about the fate of the refund voucher sent to them by him, for which the Deputy Director of Treasuries, Mysore has sent reply to the opposite party that the refund voucher sent to them is mis-placed and could not be located. Therefore, it is manifest that the opposite party though is not directly responsible for either mis-placement of the refund voucher or the loss of the refund voucher, but it is the District Treasury Officer who is accountable for it, but the opposite party with that cannot escape of its inadequacy and accountability for having sent that refund voucher to the District Treasury Officer instead of forwarding it to Treasury section of State Bank of Mysore. However, the fact remains that the complainant by this act of the opposite party has not suffered monitory loss, but there has been delay in getting that amount realized. Because, the complainant under these circumstances, can approach the Department who had issued the refund voucher for issue of a duplicate refund payment voucher by enclosing the letters of the opposite party and the District Treasury officer as that right is always be with the complainant, but he shall have to be compensated for the delay caused by the opposite party against whom this complaint is filed. On considering all these material facts, it is evident that the opposite party should have been careful when they deal with the instrument of their customers and it is found that they are lacking it. As their act of sending refund voucher to a wrong person, has resulted in undue delay in the complainant getting the amount realised, for which the opposite party as to account for. Therefore, considering this, we propose to award Rs.3,000/- as damages and thus we answer point no.1 in the affirmative and pass the following order:- <br /> ORDER<br /> <br /> 1. The Complaint is allowed in part.<br /> 2. The opposite party is directed to pay damages of Rs.5,000/- to the complainant within 30 days from the date of this order, failing which he shall pay interest at 6% p.a. from the date of this order till the date of payment.<br /> 3. The opposite party shall also pay cost of Rs.500/- to the complainant.<br /> 4. Give a copy of this order to each party according to Rules.<br /> (Dictated to the Stenographer, transcribed by her, transcript revised by us and then pronounced in the open Forum on this the day 28th January 2009)<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (D.Krishnappa) <br /> President <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> (Y.V.Uma Shenoi)<br /> Member<br /> <br />