Banks can't close account without notice

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A DELHI consumer forum has ruled that a bank closing its customer's account without serving him notice seeking his various particulars as per the banking sector's know-your-customer (KYC) norms, is liable to be held guilty of rendering deficient service.

 

Delhi's central district consumer disputes redressal forum, headed by its president BB Chaudhary gave the ruling, while holding Karol Bagh branch of the State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur guilty of rendering deficient service to one of its customers, whose bank account it had closed without serving a due notice to him, seeking his particulars.

It also asked the bank to pay Rs 15,000 as compensation within 30 days to complainant RN Prabhakar, a lawyer, for causing harassment, pain and mental agony to him.

"We hold that the act of the bank amounts deficiency in service. It led to harassment, pain and mental agony to the complainant," the forum said.

 

The forum said the bank, itself, did not follow the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, published in a news daily, on the KYC by closing the account of the lawyer on its own. Rather, it cleared two cheques of the complainant before closing his account without giving him a notice, it said.

 

It was not appropriate on its part to close the account or not to honour the cheque of the complainant by taking shelter under the public notice, it said.

Prabhakar, in his complaint, had alleged that the bank dishonoured a cheque in favour of Airtel without any valid reason. He also sought that his complaint be treated as a public interest litigation (PIL).

The forum, however, refused to treat the complaint as a PIL, saying it was governed by the Consumer Protection Act and not by the Civil Procedure Code.

It held that the public notice in a newspaper cannot be treated as a "due notice" to the accountholder.

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