The Chennai North District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Standard Chartered Bank to pay Rs 17 lakh as compensation to one of its staff members, L Dinesh Kumar, after a courier company lost a bounced cheque in transit. Dinesh, a senior analyst at the bank, had received a cheque from a third party that bounced due to insufficient funds. The bank sent the cheque to his address through DTDC Express, but it was lost in transit.
Despite the courier company initially admitting to the loss and agreeing to compensate, they later claimed that the cheque had been delivered and produced a signed proof of delivery. However, Dinesh alleged that the signature on the acknowledgement was forged. As a result, he faced a significant financial crisis and was unable to file a legal case against the drawer of the cheque.
The consumer commission dismissed the complaint against DTDC, stating that it was the bank’s responsibility to take action against the courier company for the alleged non-delivery. The commission held the bank liable for the failure to return the dishonored cheque to Dinesh and for the deficiency in banking service.
The commission directed the bank to pay the dishonored cheque amount of Rs 17 lakh as compensation for the deficiency in service, mental agony, pain, and suffering. Additionally, the bank was ordered to pay Rs 5,000 towards litigation costs. The commission’s decision highlights the bank’s responsibility to ensure that its customers’ cheques are handled properly and that they are not left to suffer due to the negligence of third-party service providers.
In this case, the bank’s failure to ensure that the cheque was delivered safely to Dinesh resulted in significant financial losses for him. The commission’s order serves as a reminder to banks to take responsibility for their actions and to ensure that their customers are protected from such losses. The case also underscores the importance of proper documentation and verification procedures to prevent fraudulent activities, such as the alleged forgery of the signature on the courier acknowledgement.