In a recent case, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Chandigarh penalized a private bank for a serious violation of privacy. The bank had issued an account statement belonging to a resident of Panchkula to a third party without obtaining proper authorization. Describing the bank’s behavior as “extremely negligent,” the commission ordered the bank to pay a lump-sum compensation of ₹30,000 to the complainant for the mental agony and harassment caused. Additionally, the bank was directed to pay ₹10,000 as litigation costs.
The complainant, Pardeep Kumar Jain, had opened a savings bank account with HDFC Bank in Sector 17 on August 10, 2022. He claimed that an unauthorized individual had obtained his account statement for the period between January 1, 2018, and May 27, 2019, resulting in significant financial loss. Despite filing a complaint with the bank, no action was taken, prompting Jain to approach the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. He presented the account statement as evidence in court.
The bank, on the other hand, denied all allegations, stating that the procured statement was not sourced from their branch or the bank itself. They argued that since the statement was neither signed nor stamped, it could be downloaded by anyone with the complainant’s internet banking login details.
However, the commission noted that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines explicitly state that no information regarding any account should be provided to a third party. The commission found the bank to be grossly negligent in safeguarding the complainant’s account information, leading to significant mental agony and harassment.
I am not able to understand how a third-party obtained a Bank account statement for the period from 1st january 2018 to May 17th 2019 when the account itself was opened on 10th August 2022 as per your report. Kindly check the facts of the case .
It’s possible that this date might be written on Statement application.
It was 2012