The Standard Chartered Bank and its assignee, Shaha Finlease, have been instructed to pay ₹1 lakh to a businessman as compensation for failing to update his CIBIL score after the closure of his credit card account, reported Bar and Bench.
The complainant, VV Venkatesh Babu, surrendered his credit card in 2010, but the bank allegedly continued to harass him for different rental charges. Following the same, Venkatesh Babu offered to close the account upon payment of ₹15,500 towards full and final settlement against the dues claimed.
Reportedly, the complainant paid the amount and also received a confirmation having no outstanding dues. The bank removed Venkatesh’s name from CIBIL records and updated it with Shaha Finlease. However, the complainant later found that the CIBIL record was not updated on the banks’ side and continued to mention him as a debtor. The assignee also demanded a sum of ₹20,491 to issue a no-dues certificate and to update the
CIBIL record.Given the situation, Venkatesh took the case to the
consumer court seeking compensatory damage against the faulty services provided. While the bank did not consider appearing in the case, the assignee Shaha Finlease mentioned that the complaint was time-barred and Venkatesh had approached it 8 years after the incident.
Considering the arguments and the record, the quorum of President B Narayanappa along with Jyothi N and Sharavathi SM as members found that the assignee had released legal notices to Venkatesh in 2020 and 2022. The notice was aimed to inform that there was a due amount of a whopping ₹20 Lakh and over ₹33 Lakh outstanding in his name.
At the time of Venkatesh’s plea to remove his name as a debtor, Shaha Finlease demanded ₹20,491 to clear his name in the CIBIL records.
As per the Bar and Bench report, advocate Abhishek MR represented the complainant Venkatesh in the case, while advocate Santhosh Kumar MB represented Shaha Finlease.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
