The complainant
a private limited company availing services of bank for business purposes, its
complaint is not maintainable before the Consumer Forum. The company is a body
corporate and not a natural person who needs to earn his livelihood.
M/s Recorders
and Medicare Systems Pvt. Ltd. through its Director and authorized signatory,
Shri Jalesh Grover, has filed complaint before the National Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission, under section 21 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986
against the State Bank of Patiala, claiming deficiency on the part of the
respondent/opposite party bank on account of its failure to renew the insurance
policy which it had been doing in its capacity as Monitoring Institution of the
complainant Company and for which it had charged fees as consideration for its
services.
Since the
services of the respondent Bank have been availed of by the complainant for
business/commercial purposes, its complaint is not maintainable before the
consumer Fora under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 in view of the provisions
of section 2 (1) (d). Although the explanation appended to section 2 (1) (d) of
the Act provides that the "commercial purpose" does not include the
services availed by the person exclusively for the purpose of earning his
livelihood by means of self-employment. However, the explanation restricting
the scope of the commercial purpose is of no avail to the complainant because
complainant is a body corporate and not a natural person who needs to indulge
to earn his livelihood. In view of this, we are of considered view that the
complainant is not covered under the definition of consumer as defined under
section 2 (1) (d) (ii) of the Act and as such the complaint is not maintainable
before the consumer Forum.
The above was
held by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) in M/s. Recorders and Medicare System Pvt. Ltd Vs State Bank of Patiala (SBP) and others.
Prepared by: S. Hemanth
Advocate at Hemanth
& Associates
