CHANDIGARH: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-II has directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to refund Rs 6,628 along with 6% interest to a home loan applicant for wrongfully deducting the amount from his savings account.
The commission held the bank guilty on account of “deficiency in service and unfair trade practices” and further directed it to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 to the complainant for the harassment caused.
Ravi Choudhary, who lives at Panjab University Residential Complex, here had approached the commission after the SBI wrongly deducted Rs 6,628 from his savings account.
Choudhary informed the commission that he had applied for a home loan in the SBI and as part of the process, the bank told him to submit two signed cheques as payment towards legal verification and property valuation. However, the loan application was delayed as the property was located outside Chandigarh.
He said the bank’s empanelled advocate refused to conduct the legal verification following which he was instructed to get the legal verification and property valuation done through the SBI’s empanelled advocate and valuer in Sonepat, where the property was located.
Choudhary then contacted advocate S K Jain and completed all the necessary formalities and paid the required fees as per the bank’s schedule. Subsequently, his home loan was approved and sanctioned.
The complainant informed the bank officials that he had already paid the fees in cash to the legal and valuation experts, but the SBI still deducted Rs 6,628 from his savings account. When the complainant contacted the bank, he was told that the payment had been made to the empanelled advocate via cheque dated Jan 15, 2019 for legal verification. Despite informing the bank and serving a legal notice on July 2, 2021 no corrective action was taken, he said.
Claiming that these actions amounted to deficiency in service and unfair trade practices, Choudhary then approached the commission seeking a refund of Rs 6,628 along with interest and compensation. In its defence, the bank argued that since all legal and other expenses incurred in connection with the loan were to be borne by the complainant as per the loan documents signed by the complainant, it had rightly deducted the amount from his account.
The bank also claimed that appointed the empanelled advocate and valuer and obtained their respective reports concerning the property of the complainant and he was never asked to get the legal verification and valuation reports.
Source Homevior.in
