CERS MEDIATES – CA – OCT 2014
- Posted by CERC India
- Posted in monthly
CERS MEDIATES
We strive to resolve consumer complaints through mediation before we resort to legal action. If you have a complaint, email it to:
complaints@cercindia.org Given below are a few of the complaints resolved recently.
POLICY NOT CLEAR
Insurance firm persuaded to shell out bonus
Insurance companies cite varied reasons for not settling mediclaims. Vinodrai Shah had a Bhavishya Aarogya Policy from New India Assurance Co. Ltd. since 1991. The total sum insured was Rs. 50,000. As per the policy he was entitled to a maximum of Rs. 20,000 per year for any one illness/injury. In 2007 and 2010, Vinodrai made claims for Rs. 20,000 each. In March 2013, he underwent a cataract operation incurring a total expenditure of Rs. 24,000. As per rules, he expected Rs. 20,000 to be added as bonus to the sum insured making it Rs. 70,000. He was shocked when his claim was partially passed and he received only Rs. 11,000.
Vinodrai sent several mails and contacted the New India Assurance office to find out why his claim was not sanctioned. The company said that as soon as there is a claim made within 10 years of risk commencement, the bonus becomes null and void. Since no such condition was mentioned in the policy document, Vinodrai decided to confront the company and get his due. He wrote to CERS asking for help. CERS sent several reminders to the company. Vinodrai got the balance Rs. 9,000 within 45 days of approaching CERS.
SCREEN SAVER?
Samsung LED TV screen gets patchy, consumer gets a replacement
Aiyub Patel from Mumbai purchased a Samsung LED TV from Croma for Rs. 2,20,249. To his dismay, within a year, big white patches started appearing on the screen. When he complained to the company, he was told that it was common and would become all right on its own. Unhappy, Aiyub pursued the matter with higher authorities who agreed to change the display panel. Meanwhile, he was not able to access any device via the TV’s WiFi. Moreover, even after change of panel, the patches continued to appear. Aiyub complained to the company again. Its technical personnel made six visits to his house but were unable to solve the problem.
Fed up, Aiyub approached CERS, which contacted Croma. It immediately swung into action. Samsung’s engineers inspected the TV and said the patches were a result of ‘cloud effect’ and appear when there is no lighting in the room. The WiFi connectivity was due to a defect in the internal unit of the TV which would be replaced for a charge. CERS continued to persuade the company to replace the defective TV. Two months of constant follow-up resulted in Aiyub getting a replacement.
DISCREDIT CARD?
Axis Bank accepts credit card goof-up, reverses deduction
Tarun Kumar Gupta was shocked to see that his salary account at Axis Bank had a lien balance of Rs 4 lakh and Rs. 48,368 was debited from the account. On inquiring, a bank official told him that the lien was for a credit card payment which was due. But, Tarun had neither requested nor received a credit card from the bank. Several mails were exchanged. After a year of waiting, Tarun wrote to the Banking Ombudsman. He was told in a letter that the transaction could not be considered fraudulent. The letter also explained that Tarun should have notified the bank within 21 days of receipt of the credit card statement that he had not made such a transaction.
Tarun was appalled at the response. He had not got a statement since he did not have a card! He wrote to the bank that the address mentioned in the credit card was in Mumbai where he had never resided. Frustrated, Tarun also sought CERS intervention. Finally, the two-year ordeal came to an end when within three months the lien against his account was removed and Rs. 48,368 credited. Because of CERS’ persuasive efforts, Axis Bank agreed to pay Tarun interest and issued a ‘no dues’ clearance. Also, it rightly removed the credit card incident from his Credit Information Bureau India Ltd. (CIBIL) record.
