Bank misplaces FD records of senior citizen, told to pay

Bank misplaces FD records of senior citizen, told to pay

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Vadodara: 17.11.2021

He had invested his hard-earned Rs 7,000 as two fixed deposits (FD) in Bank of Baroda in June 1998 for 20 years thinking that the money would help him during his retirement years. But in 2018 and 2019 when the two FDs were to mature Pravinchandra Shah, who lives in Makarpura, was shocked to know that the bank did not have any records of it.

Shah pursued the issue with the bank since 2018, but the money was never paid out to him.

However, the consumer court came to his rescue recently. The court ordered the bank to pay the matured amount of Rs 65,342 along with interest and compensation of Rs 2,000.

As Shah did not get any positive response from the bank, he had filed a complaint at the consumer forum in November 2019. He told the court that the bank did not have records of his FDs. When he approached senior officials of the bank, he was told that as the bank’s system had changed, his FDs’ account numbers had changed and he was assured of the payment. But Shah never got the money and instead learnt that the bank had deducted tax at source even as he had filled forms 15H and 15G and the rate of interest was reduced without informing him.

The bank was sent notice to appear before the forum and respond to Shah’s complaint, but the bank’s representatives never remained present. Since Shah had submitted all documentary evidence and they were not opposed by the bank, the court upheld the evidence. The court ordered the bank to pay the promised sum of Rs 65,342 to Shah within two months.