“The failure to reverse the amount within the prescribed period constitutes a deficiency in service. The complainant was deprived of the use of his own money and was required to repeatedly approach the bank, submit written complaints and pursue the matter before this commission”

Hans News Service New Delhi

A Delhi consumer commission has directed Punjab and Sindh Bank to refund Rs 10,000 to a customer after finding that the amount was debited from his account during an ATM transaction but the cash was not dispensed. The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission also directed the bank to pay Rs 29,600 as compensation for delayed reversal of the failed transaction, Rs 10,000 for mental agony and harassment, and Rs 10,000 towards litigation expenses.

A bench headed by commission president Divya Jyoti Jaipuriar and member Rashmi Bansal heard a complaint filed by Jitender Singh, who claimed that money was deducted from his account without the ATM dispensing any cash to him.

The commission said, “The failure to reverse the amount within the prescribed period constitutes deficiency in service. The complainant was deprived of the use of his own money and was required to repeatedly approach the bank, submit written complaints and pursue the matter before this commission.”

The commission said the mere fact that the transaction was shown as “successful” in the bank’s electronic system could not conclusively establish that cash had actually been dispensed.

“The mere recording of a transaction as ‘successful’ in the electronic system cannot, by itself, conclusively establish that cash was actually dispensed to the customer,” the commission said.

The case arose from a complaint by Jitender Singh, who said he attempted to withdraw Rs 10,000 from an Axis Bank ATM in Ghaziabad on December 5, 2022. Although the transaction was processed and he received a transaction message, the ATM did not dispense any cash, while the amount was debited from his Punjab and Sindh Bank account.

Punjab and Sindh Bank told the commission that it registered the complaint and forwarded it to Axis Bank, which rejected it on the ground that the transaction was successful. The matter was subsequently referred to the ATM cell/arbitration but was again rejected.

The commission, however, noted that the bank had not produced any ATM journal, cash balancing report, electronic journal, CCTV footage, switch-level reconciliation report or other reliable technical record to establish that the cash had actually been dispensed.