SC asks United Bank to pay customer ₹6L for opening locker
Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:20.02.2021
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that breaking open a customer's locker by a bank was a serious breach of trust and ordered United Bank of India to pay Rs 6 lakh compensation to an aggrieved person whose locker was broken open at a Kolkata branch more than 25 years ago.
The locker was opened by Amitabha Dasgupta's mother in the 1950s. He became a joint holder of the locker in the 1970s. The bank informed Dasgupta in 1995 that the locker had been broken open and allotted to another person as the rent was not paid for 1993-94.
When Dasgupta proved that he had paid rent for the previous year, the bank admitted its mistake. When the customer wanted back the seven pieces of jewellery deposited in the locker, the bank could return only two.
The district consumer forum awarded Rs 3 lakh as cost of jewellery to Dasgupta and an additional Rs 50,000 for mental agony, harassment and cost of litigation.
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