Consumer forum asks bank to compensate Mumbai woman

A bank locker may not always ensure the security of your belongings. Nor is it necessary that robbers have to break into the bank to rob you of your cash and jewellry.

Elizabeth D’Souza, a resident of Nalasopara was being cheated by her husband, who fraudulently opened the locker in her absence and made away with all her jewellery.

Elizabeth approached the South Mumbai District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, not against her husband, but the bank for allowing her joint owner to drill open the locker in her absence.

The forum recently ordered the bank to pay Rs1,50,000 with interest rate of 9% per annum to Elizabeth from March 18, 2006 onwards.

According to Elizabeth’s complaint, she was shocked to realise that her locker did not open with her key when she visited the Napean Sea Road branch of Bank of India on March 18, 2006.

She immediately reported the matter to bank officials, who, in turn, checked their register to verify the key numbers. Elizabeth was in for a bigger shock as she found out that her locker was drilled open by her husband, Joseph D’souza on November 8, 2005 after he provided a letter complaining about loss of key.

Elizabeth was taken aback to realise that the bank did not even bother to check if she was in agreement with her joint locker holder before taking action, breaching the guidelines quoted in the bank’s manual.

The forum found the bank  guilty of negligence.