STATE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION WEST BENGAL FIRST APPEAL NO. SC/19/A/704/2019 Reliance Genl. Ins. Co. Ltd.

PRESENT ADDRESS - Himalaya House, 8th Floor, 38-B, J.L. Neheru Road, Kolkata - 700

071.,WEST BENGAL.

.......Appellant(s)

Versus Umma Salma Bibi PRESENT ADDRESS - W/o Anwar Hossain Laskar, Vill. Suryapur, P.O. Suryapur Hat, P.S.

Baruipur, Dist. South 24 Pgs.,WEST BENGAL.

.......Respondent(s)

BEFORE:

HON'BLE MR. RAJES GUHA RAY , JUDICIAL MEMBER HON'BLE MR. SANTANU SAHA , MEMBER FOR THE APPELLANT:

Mr. Debajit Datta (Advocate)

FOR THE RESPONDENT:

Zinna Ali Laskar. (Advocate)

DATED: 16/04/2026

ORDER

Hon'ble Mr. Santanu Saha, Member

1. Genesis The present Appeal has been preferred by the Appellant, Reliance General Insurance Company Ltd. against the judgment pronounced by District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, South-24 Parganas in C.C. Case No. 11 of 2019 whereby the District Forum allowed the complaint filed by the Respondent/Complaint and directed the Appellant/O.P. to pay i) Rs.3,18,000/- towards cost of repair, ii) Rs.40,000/- towards loss of income and iii) Rs.1,24,000/-

towards outstanding bank loan (HDFC Bank) along with other consequential reliefs.

2. FACTUAL MATRIX The factual matrix, shorn of unnecessary details, reveals that one goods carriage vehicle bearing no. WB 57C 7092 (Tata/LPT 1109-henceforth referred to as ‘vehicle’) stood registered and insured in the name of Md. Anowar Hossain Laskar, the husband of the Respondent. The said Md. Laskar expired on 17.6.2018 and intimation of this death was furnished neither to the insurer nor to the registering authority. No step was also taken to effect transfer of the registration certificate or endorsement of the policy in favour of the Respondent. Within a period of one month thereafter, i.e. on 11.07.2018, the vehicle met with an accident, resulting in substantial damage. The Respondent, claiming as successor-in-interest of the deceased Md. Laskar, lodged a claim for cost of repair which was repudiated by the Appellant on grounds of adverse findings of the surveyor and breach of policy conditions.

Aggrieved thereby, the Respondent approached the District Forum, South 24 Pgs. which granted relief in the manner indicated in Para 1 above. The present Appeal has been preferred by the Appellant assailing the said Order of the District Forum.

3. GROUNDS OF APPEAL The Appellant has challenged the impugned Order on the following grounds:

(i) Absence of Privity of Contract- On the day of the accident, the insurance policy stood in the name of the deceased Md. Laskar and no transfer or endorsement of the policy was made in favour of the Respondent. As such, she did not have privity of contract with the Appellant.

(ii) Absence of Insurable Interest- The Respondent did not have any insurable interest over the ’vehicle’ at the time of accident because the ‘vehicle’ was registered in the name of deceased Md. Anowar Hossain Laskar.

(iii) Breach of Policy Conditions – At the time of accident, the vehicle was being driven by one Mr. Sujauddin Sekh who did not have a valid license and total number of persons travelling in the said vehicle was four which exceeded the seating capacity of three as per Registration Certificate of the ‘vehicle’.

(iv) Unreliable Repair Estimate- Estimate of the repairing cost of the vehicle, as submitted by the Respondent and relied upon by the District Forum while awarding the order in favour of the former, is a handwritten one, neither bearing the seal and signature of the person preparing the estimate nor having any mention of even the ‘vehicle’ registration number.

(v) Improper Award by District Forum- Compensation awarded by the District Forum for loss of income (Rs.40,000/-) and loan liability (Rs.1,24,000/-) are not covered under the insurance policy and are contrary to guidelines of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.

4. Arguments • The principal submission made on behalf of the Appellant is that the contract of insurance, being a contra