Chit Fund Company Told to Pay Bid Money with Interest

Admin   |   18 February, 2016   |   1317   |   3980

HYDERABAD: The Ranga Reddy District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum here has directed a private chit fund company to pay a sum of Rs 3.73 lakh along with 12 per cent (per annum) to a customer for failing to pay the amount that he had won in an auction.

Ch Vijaya Gopal was a subscriber to Rao Brothers Chit Fund Ltd and was part of a Rs 5 lakh chit which was payable at Rs 12,500 per month for a period of 40 months. On March 27, 2014, he was declared a prized subscriber for Rs 3,73,000 in an auction held in the company’s office. He claimed that he had submitted the sureties to the satisfaction of the company as per the agreement and the verification was completed by June 25, 2014.

Gopal said that according to a clause in the agreement, the payment of prize amount should have been released to him within one month from the date of submission of sureties i.e. by July 2, 2014 and, as his daughter was supposed to go to the United States in the first week of August, he visited the firm to collect his money but the opposite parties were unable to release the amount as there were no funds in the company’s bank account.

He said that he had visited the chit fund company several times to get his money but in vain and claimed that they avoided making the payment and addressed letters on various occasions with mala fide intention to harass him. He said that the firm had come up with a fabricated story vide a letter on August 28, 2014 that one of his guarantors had withdrawn his surety. He claimed that the company had gone against the agreement by unilaterally cancelling the bid.

The opposite parties filed their counter and said that one of the sureties wrote a letter that Gopal was not capable of repaying the chit amount and requested that his surety be withdrawn. They claimed that they immediately informed Gopal several times about the cancellation of the surety and asked him to furnish a new surety. They said that the amount that he needed to receive was adjusted to other chits where he defaulted after due intimation and requested the forum to dismiss the case as there was no fault on their part.

During the trial, the bench said, “The complainant denies the version of the opposite parties that he is liable to pay some amounts in connection with other two chits. Hence it is their duty to produce relevant record to show the outstanding amounts due by the complainant but they did not choose to adduce any evidence to substantiate their contentions. In the absence of such evidence, they are bound to pay the prize amount within the stipulated time to the complainant as per the terms of the Chit Agreement. When they failed to do so, it must be concluded that there is deficiency in service on their part.”