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Post offices can’t close accounts on a whim

Two years ago, I invested in a post office savings account.

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Pushpa Girimaji

Two years ago, I invested in a post office savings account. The post office did not only accept the investment and opened an account, but also paid interest on the amount. However, they have now written to me saying that my deposit contravened certain rules governing the account and they are closing the account and returning my deposit, after deducting the interest paid to me in the past. I am very upset about this, particularly because I had put all my savings into this account. What can I do now?

Such behaviour by the post office is unacceptable. A consumer is not expected to understand all the terms, conditions and rules governing an account. It is for the post office to explain them to the consumer and ensure that these are complied with and the account is in order. In fact, it is the responsibility of the post office to ensure at the time of accepting the deposit that it meets all conditions governing the deposit. If it does not, the post office can well reject it. If the officials fail to follow this simple procedure, one can only say that they have failed in their duty and they have to bear the consequences. They cannot force the consumer to pay for their negligence.

The post office should keep your deposit for the agreed term. If that is not possible because of some audit objections, then they must find you an alternate option that pays you the same amount of interest. Else, they should compensate you for that loss too. They certainly cannot deny you the interest accrued on your deposit so far. Remember, as long as you have not deliberately misled them in any way to open the account, you have every right to demand that the post office or its officials make amends for their negligence and inefficiency. 

Write a formal letter to the post office pointing out these factors. You can also quote in your letter some decided cases of the consumer court highlighting the rights of the depositor. If they fail to respond positively to your mail, you will have to seek the intervention of the consumer court constituted under the Consumer Protection Act.

Can you quote a similar case decided by the consumer court? 

Last month, the apex consumer court decided an identical case. Here again, I do not know the details of what led to the cancellation of the deposit, but, as per the order of the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, HM Kapasi had opened a Senior Citizen Saving Scheme after retirement, through an agent of the post office. However, following an audit objection, the post office closed his account and said it would return the deposit after deducting the interest paid so far. It quoted Rule 12 of the scheme and said that if an account was opened contrary to the rules, the post office was entitled to close it and not pay interest on it.

The consumer challenged this before the Bhavnagar District Consumer Forum. Directing the post office to pay interest on the deposit, the District Forum said that if the deposit violated any rule, the post office was duty-bound to not accept it. Having accepted the deposit, it cannot deny interest on the amount. When this view was endorsed by the Ahmedabad State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, the post office filed a revision petition before the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

Upholding the verdict of the lower consumer courts, the apex consumer court too pointed out that the post office cannot blame the consumer now and deny him interest. The Commission said that even if Rule 12 prohibited payment of interest in such cases, one cannot deny the fact that the amount was with the post office and the depositor was entitled to claim interest on it.

Thus, there is no ground for interfering with the decisions of the lower consumer courts, the apex consumer court said. (Post Master Vs Bhavnagar Grahak Suraksha Mandal; Revision Petition No 769 of 2018, decided on January 3, 2019)

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