"It is not incumbent upon a forum to restrict an award to the amount claimed by the complainant, particularly when it is found that under law or in accordance with the prescribed practice, he is entitled to more," the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission said.
The ICICI Bank had filed three separate appeals in the State Commission challenging the total compensation awarded by the district forum in the separate complaints filed by Ramesh Sharma, saying he had sought only Rs 1,00,000 as damages but the forum had granted him Rs 1.64 lakh on the basis of RBI guidelines.
"We need not therefore reduce the amount of compensation because the said amount is in accordance with the directions of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)," the bench presided by Justice Barkat Ali Zaidi said.
Sharma in his three complaints before the district forum had alleged that he had never applied to the bank for credit cards, yet it had issued him three cards and then harassed him to try recover a total of Rs 60,113 as dues.
Allowing his complaints, the district forum had also imposed cost of Rs 10,000 on each complaint, and had asked the bank to pay Sharma double the amount it had been trying to recover from him.
The State Commission, upholding the district forum's orders, also said, "The appellant Bank has resorted to illegal and forcible methods for recovery of an amount which was just not due. The complainant (Sharma) therefore needs to be adequately compensated for the harassment he has undergone at the hands of the appellant Bank."
The bench also imposed costs of Rs 10,000 per appeal on the Bank. (MORE)
