Andhra Bank penalised Rs 38,300 by Chandigarh Consumer Court

Chandigarh, September 22
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has directed Andhra Bank to pay Rs 38,300 to a Sector 22-B resident for its failure to forward the premium amount to an insurance company, besides levying Rs 5,000 as cost of litigation.
The district forum, comprising its president Lakshman Sharma, and members Madhu Mutneja and Jaswinder Singh Sidhu, in its order stated that the bank could recover the amount from the official(s) concerned, if the management so desired, by following proper rules.
The complainant, Shyam Lal Gupta, had pleaded that United India Insurance Company had floated “AB-Arogyadan” mediclaim policy for account holders and as he had an account with the bank, he opted for the mediclaim policy.
He said even though he had verbally directed the official concerned to debit the premium amount for the renewal of the policy on June 18, 2006 besides filling a renewal authorisation letter sent by the insurance company, the opposite party debited the amount on July 12 by which time the policy had expired.
Meanwhile, his wife was admitted to a private eye hospital for operation of the right eye. He said when he sent the request for pre-authorisation to Good Health Plan Ltd for cashless treatment, the same was declined on grounds that there was a 23-day break in the renewal of the policy, which was treated as a fresh policy, and one-year exclusion was applicable as per insurance norms.
As a result, he had to pay Rs 38,000 from his own pocket towards the medical treatment of his wife.
The counsel for the opposite party argued that as per terms and conditions of the policy, the complainant was supposed to deposit the cheque/DD with the bank for collecting the applicable premium for debiting the same to the insurance company.
The complainants had also failed to mention their account number maintained with the bank on the renewal authorisation letter. He also denied that the complainant ever requested the officer of the bank for debiting the premium to the insurance company.