The Tamil Nadu State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Chennai, has ruled that a customer cannot seek refund of the entire amount of a lost cheque from banks and has to seek a duplicate cheque as per the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act.
Its judgment comes in an appeal filed by Indian Bank against a District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Nagapattinam, ruling directing the bank to pay ₹2 lakh towards the cheque amount (which was lost) along with interest and ₹25,000 as compensation for mental agony caused to the customer for deficiency of service.
The Commission cited that as per a Supreme Court ruling, the course left open for the consumer was to take steps under Section 45-A of the NI Act for obtaining a duplicate cheque from the drawer. Without seeking recourse, the consumer cannot seek blanket direction to order payment of the entire cheque amount.
