A district consumer forum in New Delhi has directed a commercial bank to pay Rs 90,000 to an account holder after failing to block his compromised debit card, an omission that allowed fraudsters to siphoned off an additional Rs 60,000.
The ruling by the North District Delhi Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission established that the financial institution committed a deficiency in service by ignoring the customer’s timely deactivation request. Under the order, the bank must refund the Rs 60,000 lost in the unauthorised debits and provide Rs 30,000 to the complainant as compensation for harassment and mental distress within 30 days.
The bench, comprising President Divya Jyoti Jaipuriar and members Harpreet Kaur Charya and Ashwani Kumar Mehta, delivered the verdict on August 17, finding that the subsequent financial loss occurred entirely because the institution failed to act on the consumer’s request.
Card Swapped at ATM Cabin
The incident traces back to October 22, 2018, when the complainant received a new debit card from the bank and visited an automated teller machine directly outside the branch to activate the card and generate a personal identification number.
While struggling to complete the process on the machine, two unidentified individuals inside the booth offered assistance. During the interaction, the two individuals observed his PIN, secretly swapped his debit card with another, and handed the substitute back to him.
The following day, the account holder received a text message alert notifying him that Rs 25,000 had been withdrawn from his account.
Ignored Helpline Request Leads to Further Losses
Immediately after receiving the alert, the complainant dialed the bank’s helpline to report the fraud and deactivate the card. The representative issued a formal complaint reference number and assured him that the debit card had been rendered inactive and could not be used again.
Despite that assurance, the account holder received two additional debit notifications later that same evening, showing successive unauthorized withdrawals of Rs 50,000 and Rs 10,000.
When he followed up with the bank, officials stated that four distinct debit cards were linked to his account, although he maintained that he had only ever received one. He subsequently deactivated the remaining cards and filed an official report with the police before approaching the consumer commission.
Commission Holds Bank Accountable for Delayed Action
Before the commission, the bank argued that the customer bore sole responsibility for the financial losses because he had breached security warnings by sharing his card and confidential PIN with strangers. The institution contended that it owed no liability for the fraudulent withdrawals resulting from his initial negligence.
In his petition, the complainant conceded his initial mistake at the ATM booth and did not seek reimbursement for the first Rs 25,000 withdrawal. Instead, his claim focused strictly on the Rs 60,000 removed through the two transactions that took place after the bank confirmed his card was blocked.
The commission accepted this distinction, observing that the customer had submitted sufficient evidence to prove he had promptly lodged a complaint and requested deactivation. Because the bank failed to execute that request, the panel ruled that the institution was directly liable for the subsequent unauthorized withdrawals and ordered the refund alongside compensatory damages.
