Fighting a Loan Battle! — A manager with a private sector company bought a car after taking a loan from a private bank. But the bank misplaced his two EMI cheques.

A manager with a private sector company bought a car after taking a loan from a private bank. But the bank misplaced his two EMI cheques. The result: He was made to run from pillar to post for nearly two years with no solution offered. Finally, he had to approach the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum which ensured him justice.
 
N A Sundaram, a resident of Indiranagar and a manager with Dynalog India Limited, bought an Alto car after taking a loan of Rs 2 lakh from ICICI bank, CMH Road branch. “The EMI amount of Rs 5,000 was to be directly sent from my salary account at Cosmos Co-operative Bank to ICICI Bank,” he said.

But to his shock, his bank statement showed that his two pay orders in the months of January and February 2008 were not credited to ICICI bank. “When I questioned Cosmos Bank, they clarified that they had credited the amount to ICICI Bank. So I made several trips to ICICI Bank, but did not get any convincing answers,” he said.

“They would make me wait at their branch for hours together. On March 9, 2009, I visited the bank with my complaint letter. But they refused to accept it, saying they were not permitted to entertain these types of complaints. They just gave me a complaint number and directed me to register the complaint at their Customer Care Centre,” he said.

After registering his complaint, Sundaram waited for a few days for a response, but did not receive any reply. “I returned to the branch to find out the status of the complaint. I was told to register another e-complaint, but even after I did so, there was no reply,” he said.

Tired of fruitless visits to the bank, Sundaram approached the banking ombudsman of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Customer Compliant Cell and registered a complaint on March 12, 2009.

Nearly two months later, ICICI Bank got back to him saying the amount in question was parked in an unclaimed account for reasons not known. “The bank also conveyed an apology for the inconvenience caused and agreed to compensate me and deposit the money in my account. The compensation they paid was a mere Rs 1,000,” he said.

“Had a customer failed to pay the EMI amount in time, they would not have hesitated to charge an exorbitant interest. I want the bank to understand the hell they have put me through,” he said.

He then approached the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum which gave its verdict on Dec 18. As per the verdict, the bank was asked to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 to Sundaram for the inconvenience caused.

“Those who take loans from banks should be careful and monitor their transactions. If they face a problem, they should immediately approach the RBI for help,” Sundaram said.