Consumer Court slaps ₹12k penalty on Paytm for unreasonably freezing shopkeeper's account

A District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Pune recently imposed a penalty of ₹12,000 on Paytm for unreasonably freezing a grocery shopkeeper's Paytm account [Dinesh Bhawarlal Choudhary v Paytm Bank]..Commission President Anil B Jawalekar and member Sarita N Patil observed that although Paytm had unfreezed the account after the complaint was filed, it failed to provide reasons for freezing the account in the first place."Therefore, this Commission is of opinion that even though the opposite party had defreezed the Paytm account of the complainant after two months but they failed to give the substantive reason for freezing of the account of the complainant. The complainant suffered a lot due to act of the opposite party which amounts to deficiency of service," the order dated May 7 stated..As per the complaint by the grocery shopkeeper, his account having a balance of ₹62,633.94 was frozen on June 13, 2022 without reasons. When his support tickets and complaints went unanswered, he approached the consumer court. Despite his account being unfreezed by Paytm following the complaint, he pressed for compensation for mental harassment and deficiency of service..The Commission noted that the account was frozen for almost two months and that the complainant had tried his best to have his issue resolved before approaching the Commission."It is also seen that the complainant had taken rigorous follow up with opposite party for resolving the complaint but opposite party failed to give fruitful solution and resolve the complaint," the Commission said.Thereafter, it noted that although the account had been unfrozen, no reasons were provided for freezing. This, as per the Commission, amounted to deficiency in service. It determined that the complainant was entitled to interest on his bank balance at 5 per cent per annum for the period of time that his account was frozen.Accordingly, the Commission directed the interest payment within 45 days and further ordered Paytm to pay ₹7,000 towards mental agony and ₹5,000 as litigation expenses..[Read Order]