Mumbai: ICICI Bank fined Rs 40,000 for deficient service

Anwaya Kadu

A Borivli chartered accountant has finally won her fight against ICICI Bank, after five long years. After filing a complaint against the bank for defaulting on disbursement of loan despite issuing a sanction letter promising the same, the consumer court has now ruled in Anwaya Kadu's favour and directed the bank to pay Rs 30,000 towards the family's mental agony and Rs 10,000 rupees for litigation expenses. The court termed the bank's behaviour as 'deficiency in service'.

The case
Gorai couple Anwaya and Sachin Kadu had planned to buy a flat in the area in 2013. On approaching the developer of the project they had their eye on, they were told the project had been duly approved by ICICI Bank for home loans. They then submitted an application for it in March 2013. "After I submitted all relevant documents, I was told the loan would be disbursed in 10 days. My husband and I were happy that finally our dream of owning a house would be fulfilled," she said. The bank deducted Rs 10,675 as processing fee and Rs 3,720 as stamp duty from Anwaya's account. In May that year, it also issued them a sanction letter, promising a loan of Rs 18.59 lakh.

However, no money came our way, said Anwaya, adding that the bank kept asking for more documents from them. "We had done a part-agreement with the builder, and time was running out; yet, there was no sign of the loan getting disbursed. We were restless," she said. Sachin added, "The bank even issued us a second sanction letter, but a few days later, their executive called us and said our application had been rejected. We were shattered. We had somehow managed to convince the developer to wait, saying we would pay the amount, but this came as a shocker. Shortly after, the last date to make the payment also expired. We then approached another private bank."

No response
The couple pursued ICICI Bank to return the fees it had charged them. On not getting a response, Sachin sent a legal notice to the bank in November 2013 and demanded compensation. When even that went unacknowledged, a complaint was registered with the consumer redressal forum.

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