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PNB to pay Ludhiana man ₹3k for failing to issue refund for failed transaction
Failure to reverse money charged through a failed transaction to a Ludhiana-based advocate has cost Punjab National Bank (PNB), Feroze Gandhi Market, dear
Failure to reverse money charged through a failed transaction has cost Punjab National Bank (PNB), Feroze Gandhi Market, dear.
On the complaint of a city-based advocate, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Ludhiana, has directed the bank to pay him a compensation of ₹3,000 and refund ₹329.22 debited by the bank.
Through his complaint, advocate Ravi Choudhary had sought ₹5 lakh compensation for mental harassment, citing deficiency of services by Punjab National Bank; McDonald’s outlet, Ranjit Square, Gill village; and HDFC Bank Limited, Malerkotla Road, Ludhiana.
Ravi had submitted that he bought food worth ₹329 from the said eating joint and paid the amount through his ATM card on July 17, 2017.
However, when his ATM card, issued by PNB, was swiped, the transaction failed and the swipe machine generated a slip in this regard.
Therefore, he paid the owed amount in cash. But after 12 minutes, Ravi received a message on his mobile phone that a sum of ₹329.22 was debited from his bank account.
Ravi alleged that despite approaching the bank several times, the amount was not reversed in his account.
The complainant also approached the food joint that told him that refunding the amount was the responsibility of the bank concerned.
However, the counsel for PNB contended that when the card of the complainant was swiped, there must have been a fault in the swiping machine (point of sale terminal), for which HDFC bank was liable to be held responsible.
The commission, in its order, observed that there was no deficiency of service on the part of the eating joint and it charged the amount in cash only when the ATM card transaction failed.
It further stated that no case of deficiency of service stood proved against HDFC bank as it was not established on record that the machine was faulty.
The commission, however, allowed the complaint against PNB. “The entry is not shown to have been reversed by PNB at any point of time nor has any evidence been led by the bank to show that this entry was reversed at some later stage. PNB has further not placed on record any document to prove that the amount of ₹329 debited in the account of the complainant was actually transferred in the account of the eating joint. In the absence of any documentary evidence on this fact, it has to be presumed that the complainant was made to pay the amount of ₹329.22 twice,” read the order.
Pronouncing its order, the commission ordered PNB to refund ₹329.22 to the complainant and also pay ₹3,000 as compensation.
