BANKS ALSO COVERED UNDER CONSUMER PROTECTION

People have little idea of where to go if they have any dispute regarding consumer banking with commercial banks, although there are a couple of institutions which can come in very handy in this regard Commercial banks, despite orders by the RBI. The institutions that are meant to settle disputes between banks and consumers are little known to the public while banks have not taken any steps to create public awareness.  The best thing that has been done to strengthen the consumer movement in India is the Consumer Protection Act of 1986 (COPRA) which consists of 14 pieces with countless statutory notifications and orders to protect the rights of consumers.   The Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is a citizen-oriented social legislation intended to protect the large body of consumers from exploitation. It enables people to secure speedy and inexpensive redressal of their grievances. With the enactment of this law, consumers are in a position to declare "sellers be aware" whereas previously the consumers were at the receiving end and warned "buyers beware".  The Act postulates establishment of the Central and the State Consumer Protection Councils for spreading consumer awareness. To provide cheap, speedy and simple redressal to consumer disputes, quasi-judicial machinery is set up at each District, State and National levels called District Forum, State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission and National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission respectively. At present, there are 569 District Forums, 33 State Commissions with the apex body as the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) at Janpath Bhawan, A Wing, 5th Floor, Janpath, New Delhi. The District Fora are headed by the person who is or has been eligible to be appointed as a District Judge and the State Commissions are headed by a person who is or has been a Judge of a High Court. The National Commission was constituted in 1988. It is headed by a sitting or retired Judge of the Supreme Court of India.  The provisions of this Act cover 'Products' as well as 'Services'. The products are those which are manufactured or produced and sold to consumers through wholesalers and retailers. The services are in the nature of transport, telephones, electricity, constructions, banking, insurance, medical treatment etc. The services, by and large, also include those provided by professionals such as doctors, engineers, architects, lawyers etc.  A written complaint can be filed before the District Consumer Forum (up to Rs. 5 lakhs), State Commission (up to Rs. 20 Lakhs), National Commission (above Rs. 20 Lakhs) in relation to a product or in respect of a service, but does not include rendering of any service free of cost or under a contract of personal service. The service can be of any description. In the complaint / appeal / petition submitted under the Act.  Proceedings are summary in nature and endeavour is made to grant relief to the parties in the quickest possible time (90 or 150 days with not more than one adjournment as far as possible) keeping in mind the spirit of the Act. If a consumer is not satisfied by the decision of the District Forum, he can challenge it before the State Commission. Against the order of the State Commission a consumer can come to the National Commission even National Commission order can be challenge or appeal can be filed in Supreme Court. Coming to the subject, Banking is an important sector in a persons daily life. During these days of liberisation, banks are coming out of their traditional role of money lending and leasing, factoring housing and finance have been added to the list of their activities. With globalization becoming a buzz word, our nationalized banks, nurtured under the earlier protective regime, are suddenly asked to complete on a international arena. However, the fact remains that the average consumer is far from satisfied with even their basic services. We are having a catena of cases where the National Forum has awarded compensation to the consumers, as the banks have failed to provide proper services to their customers. Hence, interaction and interdependence between the public and banks has increased and customers have not hesitated to approach consumer forums wherever they felt there was a deficiency in services rendered by a bank. The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) and the State commission have delivered landmark judgements on banking and awarded huge compensation to the consumer.  The National commission has delivered an excellent judgement in Malti Bhat vs State Bank of India where the complainant obtained a demand draft from a bank for the examination fee. As an unsigned draft was issued by the bank which was returned to the student by the institution concerned, she was declared ineligible for the examination. The district forum awarded Rs. 35,000 as compensation and the National commission upheld its order.

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