What happens if you are robbed of your money on the premise of a bank. Such a case was decided upon by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission. The bank has a responsibility to ensure the security of its customers on its premise, the commission ruled.
An SBI account holder who was robbed of Rs 76,000 in the bank's Chandni Chowk branch was the complainant. He was standing on the queue to deposit the money on March 28, 2016 when another man who was also standing in the line snatched the bag and ran away.
The man who was robbed lodged a police complaint and an FIR was registered. The complainant also got hold of the surveillance footage from the bank. Neither the police could trace the thief nor the bank returned him the money.
He then filed a plea before the district consumer disputes redressal forum. He claimed that the bank was responsible for the incident because it happened on its premise. The forum refused to entertain him since the case was of a criminal nature. The state-level forum agreed with the ruling.
The complainant pursued his case to the national commission and argued that he was robbed while standing in a long line that stretched outside the bank (which is common in many parts of north India). He submitted the surveillance footage to back up his claim.
The bank said it could not be expected to provide security to all customers. It also said that the FIR was registered a month after the incident and the complainant held a current account.
The national commission, however, rejected the bank's arguments and ruled that the institution had a responsibility to provide security to its customers on its premise. The bank was supposed to ensure the safety of the complainant. The bank was ordered to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation and Rs 10,000 as expenses.
