Debit Card Insurance: Son fights 9 Year battle for Father's Insurance

HDFC Bank was mandated by the NCDRC to disburse Rs 5 lakh as insurance benefits to the son of a deceased customer who held an HDFC Bank debit card with Rs 5 lakh accidental death insurance coverage. However, the process was far from straightforward. Following his father's demise in October 2013, the son applied for an insurance claim with HDFC Bank, encountering prolonged delays in claim settlement.

After numerous follow-ups over several months yielded no results, the son initiated legal action against the bank in the District Consumer Forum.

The forum sided with the son, instructing the bank to fulfill the insurance claim along with compensation and interest. Undeterred, the bank escalated the dispute to higher authorities.

What is NCRDC?

The National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC), India is a quasi-judicial commission in India which was set up in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act of 1986. Its head office is in New Delhi.

The Commission is headed by a sitting or a retired Judge of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India or a sitting or a retired Chief Justice of an Hon'ble High Court, in terms of Rule 3(12)(a) of the Tribunal(Conditions of Service) Rules, 2021. The Commission is presently headed by Hon'ble Mr. Justice Amreshwar Pratap Sahi, former Chief Justice of Patna and Madras High Courts.

Section 21 of Consumer Protection Act, 1986 posits that the National Commission shall have jurisdiction:- to entertain a complaint valued more than two crore and also have Appellate and Revisional jurisdiction from the orders of State Commissions or the District fora as the case may be.

Section 23 of Consumer Protection Act, 1986, provides that any person aggrieved by an order of NCDRC, may prefer an Appeal against such order to Supreme Court of India within a period of 30 days.

Despite facing resistance, the deceased customer's son persisted in pursuing the case. Despite the loss of his father, the complainant actively engaged in legal battles across various consumer forums and commissions, spanning an extended period. In 2016, he contested against the bank in the State Consumer Forum, and from 2017 to December 2023, continued the fight in the National Consumer Commission.

REFRENCE:

https://ncdrc.nic.in/

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