The commission was hearing a 2019 complaint filed by one Salim PM, who lost ₹ 1.6 lakh due to fraudulent withdrawal of money from his bank account.
A banking ombudsman had earlier directed SBI to pay Salim about ₹80,000 for his loss. An additional amount of ₹10,000 was also credited to his account.
Therefore, Salim moved the consumer court seeking the payment of the remaining ₹70,000 that he had lost.
A bench of district consumer forum President DB Binu and members V Ramachandran and Sreevidhia TN allowed the claim to the extent of ₹ 85,000 (₹70,000 for the loss, ₹10,000 as compensation and ₹5,000 as costs of litigation).
The bench opined that since the bank is providing a service to the customer, it owes a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect the interest of the customer. This includes a duty to take steps to prevent unauthorised withdrawals from a customer’s bank accounts.
As a corollary, the court added that if a customer suffers a loss due to unauthorised transactions, the bank is liable to the customer for such loss.
Source: Barandbench
