Dharwad: The Dharwad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has pulled up a bank for issuing three credit cards to a customer who had applied for only one, holding the act to be a clear case of deficiency in service.The complainant, Kishore Desai of Hubballi, had approached the HDFC Bank branch at Deshpande Nagar seeking the issuance of a single credit card. However, the bank issued three credit cards in his name and subsequently pressured him to pay service charges and other expenses related to all three cards.In his complaint, Kishore stated that he had repeatedly informed the bank that he required only one credit card and had requested the cancellation of the remaining two. Despite multiple requests, the bank failed to cancel the additional cards, resulting in what he described as unnecessary financial burden.Alleging deficiency in service under the Consumer Protection Act, Kishore approached the Dharwad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission seeking cancellation of the unwanted cards and appropriate relief.After hearing the case in detail, commission chairman Ishappa Bhute and member Vishalakshi Bolashetty observed that while the complainant was indeed a customer of the bank, issuing three credit cards when only one was requested was unjustified and done purely for the bank’s own benefit. The Commission held that such conduct, driven by profit motive, amounted to deficiency in service.The commission further noted that the two additional cards were issued in the complainant’s name and that demanding payment of service charges and other expenses totalling Rs 72,328 in connection with those cards constituted an unfair trade practice.Accordingly, the commission directed the bank to immediately cancel the two additional credit cards and restrained it from recovering the amount of Rs 72,328 related to those cards. Taking into account the inconvenience and mental agony caused to the complainant, the commission also ordered the HDFC Credit Card Company/Bank to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation and Rs 2,000 towards litigation costs.
