A Consumer Protection Court has ruled against a private bank, ordering it to pay Rs15,000 to a citizen whose ATM card was wrongfully seized during a failed cash withdrawal attempt.
The incident occurred in 2019, when the customer attempted to withdraw cash but the ATM machine neither dispensed the money nor returned the bank card to its owner.
The court confirmed that the withdrawn amount and any related service charges had already been refunded to the customer by the bank before the ruling was delivered.
Despite the refund, the court ruled that compensation for mental distress and loss of time suffered by the customer remained a separate and necessary obligation for the bank.
The bank raised formal objections regarding the jurisdiction of court to hear the case, but the Consumer Protection Court rejected all such objections without exception.
Judges determined that the card’s seizure by the faulty machine constituted a clear failure of service, entitling the customer to seek legal redress and financial compensation.
The court ordered the private bank to pay the full Rs15,000 damages amount directly to the complainant as compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused by the incident.
