Bank not at fault if ATM card misused

New Delhi: A person cannot claim damages from bank if he fails to immediately block his lost ATM card and money is unauthorisedly withdrawn by using the card, a district consumer forum has said.

It said the bank would have been liable if the transaction of withdrawal of money took place after blockage of the card.

A bench of Central Delhi District Consumer forum passed the order while dismissing a complaint filed by a Faridabad resident Deepa Singh alleging that bank is liable for the compensation as it allowed illegal withdrawal of money from her account after she lost her ATM.

"Singh was having the PIN number and without that PIN number, the ATM card could not have been used. First the money was withdrawn and only thereafter the bank was informed to block the card.

"The bank complied the instructions of the complainant. The bank would have been liable if transaction of withdrawal of the amount would have taken after the blockage of the card by it," the forum said.

The forum presided by its president B B Chaudhary also refused to pass any order against the bank for its failure to provide her video footage of the person who had used her ATM.

"The bank cannot be held liable merely because it could not provide the CCTV footage of the relevant time of the withdrawal of money. The CCTV is a machine and it may not function at a particular time," it said.

The forum further said that the PIN number of the ATM card was only with Singh and without it money could not have been withdrawn and the bank was told to block the card only after the amount was withdrawn.

Singh had submitted that at the time of issuance of card, the bank had assured her that if somebody would withdraw money from her account without her knowledge, it would provide her video clipping but in July 2010, the bank informed her that the camera was not working at the relevant time and video clippings could not be provided.

But the forum was not satisfied and dismissed her plea saying, "only card holder can be held responsible if the ATM card/Debit card is misused fraudulently."

Source: Financial Express