School Robbed Of Rs 30 Lakh Via Fraud At Indian Bank; Supreme Court Orders Bank To Pay Rs 25 Lakh As Compensation

In yet another case of online fraud, the Supreme Court has ordered the bank to compensate the full amount that the victim has lost as the lender was found to be at fault.

The victim, in this case, is a school who complained against some online scammers who robbed their money from a bank, and were initially refused a refund of the full amount. This is obviously not fair as, apparently, the bank was at fault in the whole situation

Why was the bank at fault in the case of online fraud? Read the whole story here!

Rs 30 Lakh Stolen From Indian Bank

The principal of a private school, DAV Public School, filed a complaint against the Indian Bank, Midnapur Branch, with the Consumer Forum. The school was robbed off of a huge amount, as much as Rs. 30,00,000/- (Rs. 30 lakhs). 

The school had three accounts with a public sector bank, one of which could be used by the principal of the school with his signature. The school or the principal had never asked the bank to make the net banking facility available for any of the bank accounts. Inspite of that, the bank linked the account of the school with that of the personal account of the principal. This gave the scammers an opportunity and they robbed a huge amount from the bank account through online fraud. 

Supreme Court Order: Bank Needs To Pay

The school has alleged that the bank lacked efficiency in service in their complaint. 

The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) and National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) both acknowledged that the fault was on the bank’s part. However, they limited the compensation to an amount of only Rs. 1,00,000/-. 

On which, the school approached the Supreme Court, where Justice Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud and Justice Hrishikesh Roy presided over the case and ordered the bank to compensate the school by paying Rs 25 lakh.

The bench said that as the bank was responsible for enabling the net banking facility, they were in turn responsible for the money being scammed.

Alert For Bank Customers

If a bank commits a mistake that results in a loss to the customer, the entire responsibility is of the bank and they cannot shirk it off under any circumstance.

Also, if a fraud happens, it is necessary for the customer to register a complaint as soon as the incident takes place. If there is any delay, the amount of final recovery might be compromised. 

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