Mangaluru: Bank ordered to pay Rs 53.14 Lakhs for withholding original documents

Mangaluru: The Dakshina Kannada District Consumer Forum has ordered a bank to pay Rs 53.14 lakh for failing to return original documents taken as security against a loan.

Sunitha Lakshman Poojary from Kenjar in Mangaluru had taken a home loan of Rs 12 lakh from the IDBI Bank in Kankanady. She had deposited all her original house documents with the bank as security.

Sunitha repaid the home loan ahead of schedule and subsequently took an education loan of Rs 9.90 lakh for her daughter, for which the bank retained the original documents as security.

Although Sunitha repaid the education loan ahead of time as well, the bank did not return the original documents. Despite repeated visits to the bank, she was given various reasons for the delay. Eventually, the bank claimed that the documents had been destroyed in a fire.

Following this, Sunitha lodged a complaint with the Dakshina Kannada District Consumer Forum in Mangaluru. Upon review, the forum ordered the IDBI Bank to pay Rs 48,14,980 for failing to return the original property documents and an additional Rs 5 lakh as compensation.

Advocates Chandrahas Kadri and Deenanath Shetty represented Sunitha.