UCO Bank paid widow’s pending pension arrears, but why did court still impose a ₹15,000 fine?
A UCO Bank branch in Chandigarh was reportedly penalised for not revising the family pension of a widow despite receiving instruction from disbursing authorities.
According to the Tribune, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Chandigarh directed the Branch Manager of the UCO Bank branch in Rupnagar, Punjab, to pay ₹15,000 in compensation to the complainant for deficiency in service, mental agony, and litigation expenses.
The commission also dismissed the bank's defense, noting that the hardship and harassment suffered by the family cannot be overlooked simply because the bank cleared the pending arrears while the case was being heard.
Rupnagar resident Sukhwinder Singh had filed a complaint on behalf of his mother, Prakash Kaur. Sukhwinder's father, Nasib Singh, had retired from the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking (CTU) on March 31, 1995 and his pension was sanctioned as per rules, The Tribune reported.
After his death on November 28, 2001, the family pension was transferred to his mother from November 29, 2001, but subsequent revisions in the pension were not correctly implemented.
The complainant alleged that despite multiple official communications from the pension-sanctioning authorities, repeated visits to the branch, and formal representations, the bank failed to release the correctly revised family pension, admissible old-age allowance, Leave Travel Concession (LTC) benefits and revised medical allowances, the report added.
During the proceedings, UCO Bank's counsel submitted that it had no role in the matter, claiming its responsibility was strictly limited to maintaining the complainant’s pension account and facilitating withdrawals.
The counsel denied any deliberate delay or deficiency, stating that the lag was bona fide and arose during recalculation and verification of the claim.
The commission observed that the bank only corrected the pension structure and released the accumulated arrears after the consumer complaint was officially filed.
The commission said, "The complainant had to make repeated visits, representations, and also serve legal notices to get the pensionary benefits due to her."
"The delay certainly caused inconvenience, hardship and mental harassment. Merely because the arrears were subsequently paid, the hardship suffered cannot be ignored," it was quoted by the report as saying.
Consequently, the court ruled that the deficiency in service stood proven and directed UCO Bank to pay the ₹15,000 compensation.
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