AXIS BANK LTD. Vs. THOMAS NINAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present Revision Petition, under Sec. 21 (b) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (for short'the Act') has been filed by the Petitioner against the order of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission Maharashtra, Mumbai (for short'the State Commission') in First Appeal No.755/2014 dtd. 7/8/2017.

(2.) The case of Respondent No.1/ Complainant is that he was having Savings Bank Account with the Petitioner/Opposite Party No.1. He was not receiving email alerts as his email ID was wrongly recorded in the Bank, though he had requested the Bank to correct the same. The Complainant was surprised to know that an amount of Rs.14,00,900.00 was withdrawn from his account by internet transfers between 8/1/2013 to 9/1/2013. The Complainant reported the matter to the Bank on 10/1/2013 and lodged a Complaint with the Cyber Crime, Thane and Vishnu Nagar Police Station on 13/1/2013. He was using the mobile sim of Reliance Telecommunications Ltd. His sim card suddenly got deactivated on 8/1/2013. In spite of his request, Opposite Party No.2 did not activate the sim card. The Complainant came to know that the sim card was activated by someone in Hyderabad due to negligence of Reliance Communication Ltd. Alleging deficiency in service on the part of the Axis Bank and Reliance Communications Ltd., the Complainant filed a Complaint with the Banking Ombudsman, who directed the Opposite Party- Axis Bank to pay Rs.1,40,000.00 to the Complainant. The Banking Ombudsman also directed IndusInd Bank to pay Rs.2.00 lakhs. Not satisfied, the Complainant filed Consumer Complaint with the District Forum with the following prayer: -

(3.) The Complaint was contested by Opposite Party No.1/Axis Bank by filing written statement on the ground that the District Forum did not have the pecuniary jurisdiction to entertain the Consumer Complaint as the relief sought by the Complainant exceeded Rs.20,00,000.00.