SURAT: Bank of Baroda’s rural arm Baroda Gujarat Grameen Bank has been ordered to pay over 15% of the loan amount to a borrower due to bank employees’ unwarranted behaviour.
A consumer court in Surat ruled against the bank after the borrower Tarun Bhatia approached it with a complaint recently that the car he had purchased on a loan of Rs 4.3 lakh from the bank had been damaged by bank officials who seized the car and then used it for personal needs.
Bhatia, a resident of Kumbhariya, stated that two managers of the bank — Vishal Italiya and Abhilash Prasad — along with another man named George Christy seized his car in his absence on March 11 last year for deafulting in payment of EMIs.
A week later, when Bhatia paid the outstanding EMIs as well as seizing charges, he was told to collect the car from Valsad, but later was asked to go to a garage in Ankleshwar.
Meanwhile, Christy offered to purchase his car for Rs 2.5 lakh.
When Bhatia reached Ankleshwar, his car was in a damaged condition and the garage mechanic told him that Christy had left the car which he drove from Dahod.
On leaving for Surat, the car had a breakdown near Panoli and a local mechanic told Bhatia that the car’s engine was damaged.
The car had to be towed and sent to a service station in Surat.
Bhatia spent more than Rs 51,000 to get the car repaired and then approached the consumer forum with his grievances.
Bhatia himself investigated and found that Christy had taken the car to Dahod based on records of toll plaza on Godhra-Vadodara highway which showed that the car had passed through after it was seized.
During the hearing of the case, Bhatia raised the arguments that on what grounds the bank’s managers handed over the car’s custody to Christy and that the car was taken to different places without any authorization.
The court upheld the arguments and ordered the bank to pay for the repairing expenses along with 8% interest and Rs 17,000 as compensation.