GHAZIABAD: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DCDRC) has ordered Noida Commercial Cooperative Bank to pay ₹25,000 in compensation for the mental distress caused by the loss of a customer’s original property documents. An additional ₹5,000 has been charged for litigation costs.
The bank, which acknowledged misplacing several files during an office relocation in 2011, is also required to provide a certified duplicate of the petitioner’s property registration, ensuring no misuse of the lost original deed occurs.
Ramesh Chandra Singh, a resident of Ghaziabad, sought the commission’s intervention to obtain his original property deed, which had been mortgaged for a home loan. Singh borrowed ₹1.25 lakh in 2007 to construct a residence in Krishna Nagar, Meerut Road, and fully repaid the loan. However, when he asked for his documents in 2017, the bank failed to return them and did not offer a satisfactory explanation.
In its written response, the bank contested the DCDRC’s jurisdiction, citing its status as a cooperative under the UP Cooperative Societies Act of 1965. It argued that since Singh was a member of the cooperative society that sanctioned his loan, disputes should be addressed through arbitration, not at the DCDRC level, as per Section 111 of the Act.
The bank advised Singh to approach the arbitrator case registrar in Lucknow for resolution as permitted under Section 70 of the Act. The bank also noted that some files, including Singh’s property documents, were lost during the move from Ghaziabad to Sector 19, Noida, in 2011, prompting them to file an FIR regarding the missing documents.