The Chandigarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has held the HDFC bank guilty of deficiency in services and directed it to pay ₹20,000 to two residents of Sector 42 as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment, and as litigation costs.
The bank, through its branch manager, has also been directed to convert the secured dropline overdraft mortgage (DOD) facility of the complainants to a housing loan account on the line of housing loans being sanctioned by the bank to other customers on the execution of fresh housing loan agreement by the parties.
Complainants Bhagwan Jindal and Madhu Jindal, residents of Sector 42, told the consumer forum that they had taken a housing loan of ₹1.2 crore from Punjab National Bank (PNB) and it was sanctioned by the bank on August 20, 2020.
They further availed a loan of ₹25 lakh as an overdraft facility to the existing housing loan from PNB. Later, the complainants opted to change banks from PNB to HDFC Bank Limited and a bank transfer process was initiated. The loan account was transferred from PNB to HDFC Bank. However, the HDFC Bank converted the housing loan to a DOD facility for the reason best known to them.
The signatures of the bank officials were also missing from the last page of the sanction letter. Due to this, the complainants could not avail the benefit of the tax rebate as it was available on a housing loan and not on the DOD facility. Moreover, the complainants have never executed any document for the sanctioning of the DOD facility but rather got their earlier housing loan transferred to the HDFC Bank.
{{/usCountry}}The signatures of the bank officials were also missing from the last page of the sanction letter. Due to this, the complainants could not avail the benefit of the tax rebate as it was available on a housing loan and not on the DOD facility. Moreover, the complainants have never executed any document for the sanctioning of the DOD facility but rather got their earlier housing loan transferred to the HDFC Bank.
{{/usCountry}}Not only this, the bank wrongly debited ₹71,221 on February 1, 2023, as debit interest capitalised without the knowledge of the complainants, and when the complainants resisted the aforesaid act, an amount of ₹35,600 was credited to the account of the complainants.
Thereafter, the bank again debited ₹25,000 and ₹24,926 on the pretext of some pending documents by the complainant and the said deduction is also wrong, it was alleged.
No one from the bank turned up before the commission despite proper service, the case proceeded against the ex-parte.
The commission, headed by president Pawanjit Singh, stated that it is clear that the bank has wrongly converted the housing loan of the complainant into a DOD facility, and due to this, the complainants have suffered a lot.
“In view of the above, it is safe to hold that there is a deficiency of service on the part of the bank, especially when the entire case set up by the complainant in the consumer complaint as well as the evidence available on record is unrebutted by the bank. Hence, the instant consumer complaint deserves to be allowed,” said the commission.