The Navi Mumbai man realised in February 2020 that the bank had deducted EMI from his account at the Panvel branch for a loan he did not take.
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A consumer commission in Mumbai has ordered IDFC Bank to pay Rs 1 lakh in compensation to a Navi Mumbai man for deducting EMI on a loan he never took out.
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The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (Mumbai Suburban) found IDFC Bank guilty of defective service and directed the bank to return the withheld EMI amount of Rs 5,676 plus interest, reported PTI.
Per the PTI report, the lawsuit stated that the Navi Mumbai man realised in February 2020 that the bank had deducted EMI from his account at the Panvel branch for a loan he did not take.
Reportedly, when asked, the bank claimed to have sent him an email about an ECS payment and given him a loan account when he visited the branch. However, after examining the account, the complaint discovered an expired voucher from Amazon, an e-commerce company.
The complainant claimed that IDFC Bank approved a loan of Rs 20,000 for a 20-month period with a monthly EMI of Rs 1,892, utilising personal information from his past loan history without following the required procedures or signatures, the report added.
According to the report, the commission found that the complainant's contact with Amazon showed no receipt of money from the bank for the voucher, indicating that the bank did not grant the loan. Thus, it deemed the deduction of EMI for the loan that the claimant never took to be an unfair trading conduct.
Because of these illicit actions, the complainant's CIBIL score fell, affecting his financial image.
The commission ordered IDFC Bank to repay the deducted EMI with interest, compensate the complainant with Rs 1 lakh for deficiency in service and mental and bodily trauma within 60 days, pay Rs 10,000 in litigation costs, and correct the CIBIL record associated with the complaint, the report added.