STATE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, PUNJAB, CHANDIGARH.

Date of institution : 25.05.2021 Reserved on : 05.03.2025 Date of Decision : 25.03.2025

1. Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Limited, through its Managing Director, Office Address : 2^nd Floor, Eminent Mall, Guru Nanak Mission Chownk, Jalandhar – 144 001

2. Mohit Nahal, Assistant Sales Manager, Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Limited, Office Address : 2^nd Floor, Eminent Mall, Guru Nanak Mission Chownk, Jalandhar ….Appellants/Opposite Parties No.2&3 Versus

1. Charanjit Singh S/o Sh. Santokh Singh, R/o Village Isharwal, Tehsil and District Jalandhar.

2. Kulvir Kaur W/o Sh. Charanjit Singh, R/o Village Isharwal, Tehsil and District Jalandhar.

.…Respondents No.1&2/Complainants

3. SMC Insurance Brokers Pvt. Ltd. (Broker Code : 013200) Corporate Address: Parsavnath Metro Mall, Near Metro Station Pratap Nagar, New Delhi 110 007 (a) Registered Office Address : 11/6B, Shanti Chambers, Pusa Road, New Delhi – 110 005, through its Authorized Managing Director/ Vice Presidents Operations.

.…Respondent No.3/OP No.1 First Appeal under Section 41 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 against the order dated 09.03.2021 passed by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Jalandhar in C.C. No. 321 of 2018.

Quorum:-

Hon’ble Mrs. Justice Daya Chaudhary, President Ms. Simarjot Kaur, Member Mr. Vishav Kant Garg, Member

1) Whether Reporters of the Newspapers may be allowed to see the Judgment? Yes/No

2) To be referred to the Reporters or not? Yes/No 3) Whether judgment should be reported in the Digest? Yes/No Present:-

For the appellants : Sh. K.S. Cheema, Advocate For respondents No.1&2 : Sh. Sylvester, Advocate for Sh. Shubham Thakur, Advocate For respondent No.3 : None VISHAV KANT GARG, MEMBER :

Appellants/Opposite Parties No.2&3 i.e. Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd. & Anr., have filed the present Appeal through its Managing Director to challenge the impugned order dated 09.03.2021 passed by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Jalandhar (in short, “the District Commission”), whereby the Complaint filed by the Respondents No.1&2/Complainants-Charanjit Singh & Anr.

had been partly allowed.

2. It would be apposite to mention here that hereinafter the parties will be referred, as were arrayed before the District Commission.

3. Briefly, the facts of the case as made out by the Respondents No.1&2/Complainants in the Complaint filed before the District Commission are that OPs No.1&2 being the Agents of OP No.3-Insurance Company had allured the Complainants by misrepresenting about the benefits of the Insurance Policies of Bharti AXA Life Insurance Company Ltd. and had enforced them to purchase the same. The Complainants informed them that they had the limited financial resources but Mr. Munish Tandon, employee of OP No.1 had mis-guided them that these insurance plans needed only one time investment and they will get double of the amount after five years. On the repeated asking of OPs No.1&2, the Complainants had purchased three insurance policies, the details of which are as under:-

4. Said official had obtained the signatures of the Complainants on some blank documents, written in English wording. The Complainants being the illiterate person, was not aware the contents/conditions written in these Forms and had signed the same in good faith. On coming to know about misstatement by the Agent of OP No.3, the Complainants had sought the refund of their respective premiums.

5. Stating the act of the opposite parties to be a case of ‘deficiency in service’ and ‘unfair trade practice’, it was prayed in the Complaint that the OPs be directed to refund the premiums of all the three insurance policies i.e. Rs. 25,000/-, Rs. 74,000/- and Rs.99,000/- with interest @ 15% per annum from the date of deposit till realization, Rs.35,000/- as compensation on account of mental tension, harassment and suffering and Rs.1,50,000/- as litigation expenses.

6. Upon issuance of notice in the Complai