NCDRC rejects plea for encashment of one of four 1961 FDRs

NEW DELHI: The country's apex consumer forum has dismissed an allegation by a State Bank of India consumer that the bank or one of its officials had unauthorisedly withdrawn money from one of his four term deposit accounts opened over five decades ago in 1961.

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) dismissed the plea saying had the bank or one of its officials encashed one of his four Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) of 1961 vintage, they could have done so to the three others as well.

NCDRC bench, headed by its Member Anupam Dasgupta, rejected Amritsar native Narinder Mohan Wadhera's plea, terming his conduct of approaching the bank for closing the account in 2000, 39 years after opening it, as "highly unusual."

"The action of the complainant to claim payment of the four FDRs made in 1961 after nearly 39 years without any inquiry in the long intervening period is most unusual," said NCDRC.

Wadhera had moved NCDRC challenging the Punjab State Consumer Commission's order which had set aside an Amritsar district forum order which, in turn, had asked SBI to pay him his dues against his FDR worth Rs 3,200 opened in 1961.

The district consumer forum had decided in favour of Wadhera as the bank had failed to substantiate its claim by any documentary evidence that he had withdrawn the money from his fourth fixed term deposit account in 1966 itself.