Consumer court directs BBMP to reimburse Rs 20,000 to a woman

BBMP falsely accused woman of defaulting on her property tax payment

Court ruled in favour of woman after finding her claims to be true

The consumer court has directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to reimburse a sum of Rs 20,000 to a woman who was falsely accused of defaulting on her property tax payment.

Despite her providing proof of online transaction and payment, the BBMP neglected to update her payment status.

The attorney for the bank clarified that Rs 9,501 was deducted from the complainant’s account in favour of the civic body, and any errors would have resulted in a reversal of the amount. Consequently, the forum has instructed the Palike to promptly update the woman’s tax payment status as ‘paid.’

In a verdict announced on September 22, 2023, the consumer forum judges explicitly stated that Sandhya, the complainant, had indeed made the property tax payment to the BBMP through online banking, with a corresponding reference number generated.

The bank corroborated the payment’s authenticity, confirming the absence of any amount reversal. These facts convincingly support the woman’s claims, as per the judges’ assessment.

The court ruled that the BBMP commissioner is obligated to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation for the distress caused to the woman and an additional Rs 10,000 to cover her court expenses, both within a period of 45 days from the date of the order.

The case against Canara Bank was dismissed, as it was determined to have functioned solely as a payment facilitator.