A district commission has directed a bank to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for wrongfully seizing a vehicle for another loan in which the complainant was a co-borrower. The complainant's truck was seized to recover the balance loan taken earlier by his father to buy another truck.
Rajiv Dubey, too, had bought the truck on loan and settled the amount the very next day, after the bank had seized his vehicle. But, he was not given the possession of his truck as the bank asked him to clear the dues of his father as well because he was a co-borrower in the loan.
Complainant a co-borrower in a loan taken out by his father
In 2009, M/s Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd (Kalina Branch) had seized Dubey's truck on non-repayment of loan. He paid the amount the very next day for which a receipt was issued. The bank then sought clearance on his personal loan, which was cleared as well. But Dubey's truck wasn't released as now the bank asked him to settle the loan of his father, in which he was co-borrower.
Unable to repay the vehicle loan, Dubey's father had given the possession of the truck –bought by him–to the bank's Sanpada branch in 2008. He then went around looking for a buyer for the truck. He managed to find a buyer willing to pay Rs 5.25 lakh. However, the bank had already sold the vehicle for Rs 2.50 lakh and demanded the remaining amount.
Hence,to recover the loan taken by his father, the bank didn’t release the seized truck of Dubey, causing a daily loss of Rs 3,000 as he is into the import-export business.
The complainant also filed an interim petition with the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC). Despite the SCDRC order, the truck release was delayed.
Commission says seizure inappropriate
Stating that seizing Dubey's vehicle for a loan borrowed by his father was inappropriate,the commission ordered the bank to pay Rs 30,000 to the complainant towards mental harassment and litigation cost.
The order dated October 21 was given by RG Wankhade (president) and Shradha Jalnapurkar (member) of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Suburban) after they found deficiency in service by the bank.
