Allahabad Bank asked to pay Rs 5.10 lakh for misplacing customer’s property documents

Five years after Allahabad Bank ‘misplaced’ the property documents of a Meerut-based resident, who had taken two loans on the basis of his property (the papers of which were kept as equitable mortgage), Meerut consumer court asked the bank to pay Rs 5.10 lakh as penalty to the customer. At the same time, the court also ruled that if the bank found one of the three property documents submitted, then Rs 1.5 lakh could be deducted from the penalty amount.

Murari Lal had filed a case in the consumer court in January 2013 after he found that Allahabad Bank authorities were ‘incapable’ of returning the three property documents that were submitted as equitable mortgage against two loans that he had applied for earlier. “Once I was done with returning the loans in 2010 and 2012 respectively, I asked for my documents from the bank – which they did not return and started giving excuses. Meanwhile, I wrote a letter to them but did not get any answer in return,” said Murari Lal in his complaint to the consumer court.

The bench headed by Desh Bhushan Jain, president, consumer forum, and Indu Chaudhary, member, consumer forum, gave a decision in favour of Murari Lal and instructed Allahabad Bank authorities to pay Rs 5.10 lakh in a month’s period, which if not paid in the aforesaid period would invite a nine per cent yearly interest.