Banks and financial institutions are frequent respondents in consumer commissions. The complaints range from the genuinely contested — wrongful debit, failure to release a security, mis-selling of an insurance-linked product — to the speculative. Across both ends, the defence strategy is the same: let documentation do the talking.
The Consumer Protection Act, 2019 made a number of useful adjustments — pecuniary jurisdiction, e-filing, mediation channels — but it did not change the fundamental architecture: a complainant alleges deficiency of service or unfair trade practice; the opposite party files a written statement; both lead evidence by affidavit; arguments follow; the Commission decides. Defending well at each stage is mostly about not making mistakes.
01The written statement is the case
Unlike a trial, where evidence can substantially repair an unloved pleading, in a consumer commission the written statement is the case. The Commission reads it; counsel argues from it; the affidavit of evidence repeats it. A perfunctory written statement is a weak defence.
Working principles for the written statement:
- Deal with each averment paragraph by paragraph. A blanket denial loses you presumptions on procedural facts.
- Plead the contractual position upfront. Loan-sanction terms, account-opening conditions, master facility agreement clauses — quoted, not paraphrased.
- Plead the regulatory framework. RBI circulars, BCSBI codes, IRDAI rules where applicable. The Commission is not always familiar with the specific instrument; counsel must educate.
- Take preliminary objections cleanly. Limitation, jurisdiction (territorial and pecuniary), maintainability, banking ombudsman/SARFAESI bar where relevant.
02Maintainability: the bar arguments worth running
Three maintainability points the firm raises with care, where applicable:
(a) SARFAESI bar (Section 34)
Where the dispute is in the nature of a borrower's challenge to enforcement under SARFAESI, the consumer commission's jurisdiction is barred by Section 34 of the SARFAESI Act. The line is now well-settled, but the bar must be raised and substantiated, not merely cited.
(b) Banking Ombudsman channel
The existence of an alternative remedy under the RBI's Integrated Ombudsman Scheme is not, by itself, a bar to a consumer complaint, but it can affect costs and the Commission's treatment of the matter. Worth flagging.
(c) Commercial purpose
Section 2(7) of the Consumer Protection Act excludes services availed for "commercial purpose" from the definition of "consumer". For corporate borrowers and high-value commercial facilities, this defence is often available — but must be pleaded and proved by reference to the documents.
03Evidence: affidavits, account statements, the audit trail
Evidence in consumer commissions is by affidavit. Cross-examination is uncommon and limited. The affidavit must, therefore, anticipate the case the complainant will run and answer it on its face.
- Account statement — certified, with reference to the disputed entries, and a tabular reconciliation if needed.
- The contract trail — application form, sanction letter, agreement, key fact statement (where applicable).
- The complaint trail — bank's response to the complainant's representations, ombudsman correspondence, internal grievance-redressal records.
- The regulatory trail — applicable RBI circulars, the bank's internal policy where it tracks the regulator.
Consumer-commission proceedings reward attention to detail and punish shortcuts. The bank that arrives with the file in order rarely loses the case it should win.
04Burden of proof and the presumptions
The complainant carries the burden of pleading and proving deficiency of service. But once the complaint is admitted, several practical presumptions begin to operate against the bank:
- Account entries and transactions are within the bank's exclusive knowledge — unrebutted denials sit uneasily.
- Where the complainant pleads a documented complaint or representation, the bank's response (or lack of one) is on display.
- RBI fair-practice norms are read as setting the floor of expected conduct.
The defence's job is to convert these soft presumptions into specific, documented answers.
05Costs & the appellate route
If the case is lost at the District Commission, an appeal to the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission lies under Section 41, with a deposit requirement (50% of the awarded amount or as the State Commission may direct). For matters of pecuniary value above the State Commission threshold, the appellate route runs to the National Commission.
An appeal is rarely an exercise in re-argument; it is the place to surgically attack findings of fact that are unsustainable on the documentary record. Drafting matters here much more than at the original side.
Closing thoughts
Bank consumer defences are won, mostly, in the months before the complaint is filed — by the policy team that drafts the letter to the customer; by the relationship manager who keeps the file; by the grievance officer who issues a speaking response. By the time the matter reaches counsel, the documents are what they are. The defence is, in effect, a curation of those documents into a coherent legal argument.
Consumer-commission proceedings reward attention to detail and punish shortcuts. The bank that arrives with the file in order rarely loses the case it should win.