Chandigarh commission keeps ICICI Bank refund order with 11.75% interest, drops daily penalty
The Chandigarh State Consumer Commission partly allowed ICICI Bank's review, dropping a Rs 10,000-a-day penalty but keeping its order to refund Rs 89 lakh and Rs 80 lakh with 11.75% interest.
Key points
- The Chandigarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission partly allowed a review application by ICICI Bank on 27 October 2026.
- ICICI Bank must still refund Rs 89 lakh and Rs 80 lakh from two accounts with 11.75% annual interest within 30 days.
- The commission deleted a penalty of Rs 5,000 a day per account and a direction on title deeds already returned to the customers.
Photo: Steven Bornholtz / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped). Representational image.
The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, U.T. Chandigarh, on 27 October 2026 partly allowed a review application by ICICI Bank but kept in place its direction that the bank refund Rs 89 lakh and Rs 80 lakh from two accounts to a group of customers, with interest at 11.75% a year. It deleted a daily penalty and a direction on title deeds.
What Happened
The review was against the commission's own order of 21 May 2026 in an execution appeal, a proceeding to enforce an earlier consumer forum order. That May order had directed ICICI Bank to refund the two amounts with 11.75% interest from 1 April 2015 and 1 September 2015, when the accounts were closed, to return the original title deeds of mortgaged properties, issue no-dues certificates, and pay Rs 5,000 a day for each account if it did not comply within 30 days.
According to the review order, the bank argued that no interest had been awarded in the original 2012 order and that the executing forum could not grant relief beyond that order. The commission held that these questions had already been decided in the May order and showed no error apparent on the record; it said the bank could instead file a revision under the law.
It accepted two of the bank's points. The customers had stated on 25 September 2026 that they received the title deeds about two years earlier, so that direction was deleted. And because the customers were already getting 11.75% interest, the commission held the daily penalty excessive and deleted it, saying this does not relieve the bank of the refund.
The bank must now pay the two amounts with interest within 30 days of receiving a certified copy of the order.
What It Means
The order shows that a consumer forum enforcing its own decree can direct a bank to pay interest on money held back, while a daily penalty on top of interest may be cut down on review. The bank can challenge the order further through a revision. Bank customers with unresolved disputes can complain to the RBI at https://cms.rbi.org.in or through e-Daakhil.
Source: Consumer commission order
Sources & Citations
- Consumer commission order — Consumer commission