Rs. 1-lakh fine imposed on bank officials for missing cheque leaf

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

VIRUDHUNAGAR, OCTOBER 11, 2018 00:00 IST

‘Deficiency in service led to its missing’

Virudhunagar District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum has directed two Canara Bank officials to pay a bank customer Rs. 1 lakh compensation after a cheque leaf for Rs. 4 lakh he had deposited with the bank’s Srivilliputtur branch went missing in 2016.

The forum, comprising its president, Devadoss, and member, Sivanmoorthy, on Wednesday said that lackadaisical attitude and deficiency in service led to the cheque missing.

The complainant M. Marimuthu of S. Ramachandrapuram had deposited the cheque for Rs. 4 lakh issued by S. Pounraj with the Canara Bank Srivilliputtur branch on August 20, 2016. However, as the money was not credited to his account, he repeatedly approached the bank Branch Manager and also the Manager at the Circle Office in Madurai.

However, later the Circle Manager had given a report claiming that his cheque leaf went missing.

To a legal notice, the officials had replied that it was not unusual for the cheque leaf to go missing in a bank where transactions to the tune of several crores were being done.

Finding the two officials at fault, the forum directed them to pay Rs. one lakh to the complainant.

Besides, they should pay Rs. 10,000 as compensation for the complainant’s mental agony and Rs. 5,000 as cost.