The Ernakulam District Consumer Disputes Prevention Commission has ordered SBI to return the ‘Maturity’ amount of a person’s fixed deposit (FD) and compensate his son. The Commission has ordered this order if the funds are not paid by citing the missing records.
PP George, a resident of Vatutila in Ernakulam, has said in his complaint that his late father PV Peter had done a fixed deposit (FD) of Rs 39,000 in 1989 at the Vidutila branch of State Bank of Travancore (SBT).
After the death of his father in June 2022, George approached SBI for a claim on the deposit amount, in which SBT was merged. However, the bank refused to release the amount, saying that the records related to the bank’s merger are not available.
After this, George approached the Consumer Commission demanding relief. He presented the original fixed deposit receipt, Aadhaar card, birth certificate, death certificate and other documents as evidence.
The Commission said that even if banks have transferred to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) according to the norms not claimed for more than ten years, the depositor or successor does not end the right to claim money.
The Commission directed the bank to return the fixed deposit of Rs 39,000 with the interest of RBI/SBI with the prescribed interest. Also, the court also directed the bank to pay Rs 50,000 for mental troubles to the bank in 45 days and Rs 5,000 for the cost of the case.