The Mohali District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has stated that a person who had served an institution could not be denied the status of an ex-employee only because he or she had resigned from service.
The commission has directed the Central Bank of India to refund ₹95,587 to a former staff member. The amount was deducted from her account after the bank claimed that she had wrongly received extra interest on fixed deposits for several years.
What is the case all about?
A complaint was filed by Neha Khanna, a resident of Zirakpur, against the Central Bank of India. Khanna joined the bank as a clerk in November 1993. She resigned in January 2005 due to family reasons after serving for about 12 years.
According to the complaint, she opened several fixed deposits (FDRs) between 2012 and 2013 at the Chandigarh and Zirakpur branches of the bank. She said that branch officials informed her that she was eligible for an additional 1% interest under the ‘ex-staff’ category.
The bank continued giving her the extra interest benefit for several years, even after her deposits were transferred to another branch in Zirakpur in 2015.
However, in May 2022, the bank informed her that employees who resigned from service were not eligible for the additional interest benefit. The bank demanded recovery of ₹95,587, claiming that excess payment had been made. The amount was later deducted from her account in July 2022 despite her objections and representations.
In its reply before the commission, the bank argued that only serving employees and retired pensioners were eligible for the extra 1% interest. It said that the benefit was given to the complainant by mistake due to an inadvertent error.
The commission, comprising president SK Aggarwal, member Paramjeet Kaur, and member Lt Col Jasbir Singh Bath, rejected the bank’s argument.
The commission said that the complainant had never hidden her service history or resignation from the bank. It also noted that bank officials had given the additional benefit with full knowledge of the facts.
“If any excess benefit had been extended, the same was due to the acts, assurance and conduct of the officials of the OPs themselves,” the commission observed.
Calling the deduction “arbitrary” and “unjustified”, the commission held the bank guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.
The commission directed the bank to refund ₹95,587 with 6% annual interest from the date of deduction until payment. It also ordered the bank to pay ₹10,000 as compensation for mental agony and harassment. Further, the bank was restrained from making any more deductions from the complainant’s remaining fixed deposits on the same grounds.
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