Fixed deposit in a bank
K LAL
(Querist) 07 July 2013
This query is : Resolved
I had deposited 50000/- in Canara Bank Delhi Branch, to say 25 years back and forgotten to encash it due to its misplacement.
Now I have traced the FDR and approached the Bank with the original FDR receipt issued by the bank but is not giving my money on the lame excuse that old records are not available.Hence they are evading my payment.
Can any help me tell what to do or any legal expert may be appointed by me to get back my money.
I am a senior citizen now.
I shall pay the fee of legal consultant to pursue my case with the authorities.
Guest
(Expert) 07 July 2013
Non-availability of old record is not a right plea. The officials seem to avoid labour in tracing the related records from old records.
You may write a complaint to Banking Ombudsman with a copy to the RBI. If still not settled through Banking Ombudsman, issue legal notice to the Bank.
prabhakar singh
(Expert) 07 July 2013
Rightly advised.
It is not expected from banking institutions
to take plea of limitation but that is what Canara is doing.
No suit could lie now they know.
K LAL
(Querist) 07 July 2013
Can you quote the law or an order under which No suit could lie now they know?
V R SHROFF
(Expert) 07 July 2013
Issue Legal notice to Bank br mgr, with copy to head office with request to pay you the amt.& xerox of FDR.
Wait for their reply.
Most probably they will pay you.
Shri K Lal,
LIMITATION ACT APPLY. Law goes against you. Limitation Period ALREADY EXCEED. IN CASE YOU SLEEP TOO LONG, Court can't help your negligence. Must be awake to move court intime. [usually 3 years] so only request and pray. Managers have discretionary Power, and can pass 50k if they so wish.
K LAL
(Querist) 07 July 2013
@Dear V.R.SHROFF
Legal notice had also been issued as well as manager has been met by me and no parrot reply is received that old records are not available.
However any order by any court which helps in this case as a parity may please quote. How ever suggestion given by you shall be followed once again.
prabhakar singh
(Expert) 07 July 2013
Dear mr. K lal!
Not only you but all who have replied you are senior citizens since long before you attain it.
There is no concession in limitation law provided to senior citizens.
You should not challenge our knowledge about law.You are no authority on us.
However considering your seniority claim i am telling you the law.
It's name is Limitation Act 1963.
Where under any suit of recovery of money due on a fixed date if unpaid would be recoverable by a law suit to be filed with in 3 years from the date fixed for payment.
For your purpose and in money suits it is gist of limitation law.You have the FDR ,read the date of maturity,count three years forward from the date of maturity to find out the last date of filing a recovery suit.
For more knowledge about limitation buy one copy of bare Act in Delhi.I suppose having gone senior you would not need any textbook.
ajay sethi
(Expert) 07 July 2013
agree with experts . your claim appears to be barred by limitation
prabhakar singh
(Expert) 07 July 2013
One thing more i would add that law stated above applies to only fixed deposits or any deposit with maturity date.
For deposits in saving or current a/c limitation of 03 years would start to run from the date when withdrawal sought is refused by the bank.
K LAL
(Querist) 07 July 2013
I thank all the experts for their guidance.Thanks once again
prabhakar singh
(Expert) 07 July 2013
What Dhingra Ji advised you is the only course open for you.
Door of courts are closed so knocking them would be futile effort.
People have trust in banking system so bank should not diminish that trust pleading old records etc.That may prove dangerous for the very health of Banking institutions Canara or Ombudsman or banking regulator RBI should bear in their mind.
Rajendra K Goyal
(Expert) 07 July 2013
It is possible that on the date of maturity the Bank has credited the proceeds in your account. Bank may do so without the original fix deposit receipt.
You have not mentioned the date of maturity of the original deposit. Banks may automatically renew the fix deposits, if not credited to their accounts, on the date of maturity for the same period for which it was originally deposited.
If the deposit was not credited in your account any time after the maturity (one time or second, third time maturity) the entry must be outstanding in the books of the bank and can be traced. If not traceable, some fraudulent person may have withdrawn it by misrepresentation.
Banks have been issued with the guidelines about maintaining and preserving old records. In 25 years this time must have passed. Bank can not be blamed for this.
There are large no. of cases in which the deposit was credited / paid without original receipt and the depositor forgot the payment and claimed again on finding the receipt in records.
In a Nationalised Bank such deposit can not be written off, it will form a part of Branch Books till paid. Small deposits in saving or current accounts are written off by debiting yearly service charges as per guidelines.
Bank also send return of Unclaimed deposit to RBI yearly in which such deposits are included..
You may sent copy of the legal notice to their head office. You should have send the notice to chairman, managing director, General Manager, Regional Manager also by registered post.
prabhakar singh
(Expert) 07 July 2013
The practice Banks usually adopts that when any FD is not encashed on maturity date,they refuse to pay interest for period beyond maturity date unless customer agrees to deposit for a forward date of his visit date for encashment.
Guest
(Expert) 07 July 2013
Rajendra ji,
You may please like to review your answer in so far as the deposit in account is concerned, as bank does not credit the amount in to the savings account of the depositor unless the original FDR is surrendered to the bank with specific instruction on the FDR to credit the proceeds in to the bank account of the depositor. Surrender of the FDR is a must for claim of the deposit. If original FDR is lost or destroyed, he can apply for the duplicate of the FDR, which is issued only after cancellation remarks against the original FDR in the account. Interest, of course is not allowed after the maturity date of the FD.
Also, bank cannot keep the amount of public money, like securities, FDs, etc., as their own income after the limitation period. If that remains unclained for more than three years, the same has to be deposited with the Government of India to form part of the Consolidated Fund of India. However, the amount can be repaid to the depositor when applied for by restoration of the deposit with the bank. Some standard financial institutions, however, remind the depositor about deposit lying with them before expiry of three years so that they can credit only the barest minimum unclaimed sums of such public deposits with the Government.
Rajendra K Goyal
(Expert) 07 July 2013
Sir PS Dhingra JI,
With all regards and most humbly I submit as under (Hope you will oblige correction where I am wrong):
1. FDR is a receipt of money , non transferable and not a negotiable instrument.
2. Due to income tax rules proceeds of FDR above Rs. 20,000/- (previously presently probably increased, principal + interest)has to be routed through the account. There is possibility that Bank credited this amount in SB account to avoid long outstanding deposit as such.
3. If original FDR is lost, generally unstamped indemnity with the application is received for issuing duplicate, just a process of few minutes. Some Banks have discontinued this practice also.
4. May be the Bank has not credited the proceeds in Saving Account in this case, it may have renewed it. In the competitive conditions almost all the nationalized Banks are paying interest for overdue period (subject to conditions) by automatically renewing the FDR.
5. Previously the Banks were parking such deposits in separate account (non interest bearing. If renewed, previous interest was paid. Now a day automatic renewal procedure is adopted. Sometimes large interest payment for renewal from this account attracted adverse remarks of auditors as it has effect on profitability of the bank. It was considered expanses of previous year not provided for. At the time of actual payment the interest is paid as per Bank instructions.
6. No such deposit is credited in the account of Government after three years. A return of such Unclaimed deposit (previously it was for 12 years presently not updated with me) is sent to RBI every year.
Regards, hope will guide me where ever found wrong.
prabhakar singh
(Expert) 07 July 2013
The policy of Banking OMBUDSMAN with regard to their approach to a problem like this query is available on following page of web:
https://www.bankomb.org.nz/news-and-publications/quick-guides/item/missing-accounts
and that reads as under:
"How do we approach complaints about old term deposit certificates?
If we receive a complaint that a banking service provider is refusing to pay out on an old term deposit certificate, there are certain timeframes under our terms of reference that may affect our ability to investigate.
We are unable to look at complaint that relates to something that occurred prior to a banking service provider joining the Banking Ombudsman Scheme. Most of our participants joined the scheme on 1 January 1992. So, if the last record of the term deposit shows a maturity date prior to 1 January 1992, it is likely that any complaint about an old term deposit will be outside our terms of reference.
If the term deposit matured after 1 January 1992, but it is more than six years since the complainant should reasonably have become aware of a problem with the term deposit, it is also likely it will fall outside our jurisdiction.
If neither of these timeframes apply, however, we can consider a complaint about missing term deposit funds. But how we approach a complaint differs from how we approach old passbook complaints.
While an old term deposit certificate shows that a banking service provider held a customer’s funds until the maturity date on the certificate, it does not show that a term deposit account remained with the banking service provider after the maturity date. At maturity, we presume that the funds were paid out to the customer.
We still expect banking service providers to carry out the usual checks for evidence of a term deposit or what happened to it after maturity. It may be possible to establish whether the funds were paid to another account. However, if there is no evidence of what happened to the funds after maturity, and no evidence of the existence of the funds apart from the term deposit certificate, there may be little that we can do."
Guest
(Expert) 07 July 2013
Gpyal ji,
Thanks for clarification. But, still the banks do not automatically credit the proceeds in to some other the account of the FDR holder. Also, it is also not necessary as a precondition that the holder of FDR to open a savings bank account with the same bank. Where he does not have an SB account the bank issues a banker's check to redeem the proceeds of FD. About credit in to Government account of the unclaimed deposits, the intention of the statements to RBI is only for that purpose, as RBI makes necessary debits/ credits automatically in to Government accounts as a policy matter for the finances of the Government.
Anyway, our intention is to help provide suggestions to the querist how he can get his money, which does not belong to the bank in any case.
Guest
(Expert) 07 July 2013
Thanks Prabhakar ji for providing very useful information about the policy of the Ombudsman.
Rajendra K Goyal
(Expert) 07 July 2013
Expert PS Dhingra ji, Thanks and obliged.
Guest
(Expert) 07 July 2013
You are welcome, Rajendra ji.
Raj Kumar Makkad
(Expert) 07 July 2013
Well advised by experts hence no more to add.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 12 July 2013
Govt bank
amount may now be about 3.4 lakh @ 8% p.a. if compounded half yearly it may be about 3.5 lakh.
anyone needed bribe.
That being the case work for trap.
Anyway you may not be needed to go to banking ombudsman. I believe you have not even met the manager. Just writ e a complaint to chairman.
Sudhir Kumar, Advocate
(Expert) 12 July 2013
But bear in mind that you claim is a time barred debt and may not be enforceable in court unless bank accepts liability.
You can file RTI to get proof of destruction of record since it is Govt Bank.
