State Consumer Forum upholds lower court verdict

Background of the case is that Narayana, a resident of Tarikere, had purchased an insurance policy from the Postal Department on February 2, 2006. When Narayana died due to illness, his legal heir Sumithra submitted application for insurance claim from the Postal Department.

As the Postal Department refused to respond to the claim, Sumithra approached the District Consumers’ Redressal Forum.

The Postal Department had argued before the District Consumer Forum that the Narayana was suffering from ailments even before buying the insurance policy.

“It is not possible to distribute compensation, since the policy holder had purchased the policy hiding actual facts,” Department officials asserted.

However, the District Consumers’ Redressal Forum Chairman Ravishankar, Members Rudrappa and Pushpalatha after verifying the medical records found that Narayana was cheated by the insurance company.

Following this, the Forum directed the Postal Department to distribute Rs 2 lakh as insurance claim and Rs 3,000 as compensation for deficiency in service.

When the Postal Department challenged it, the three-member bench of the State Consumers’ Redressal Forum headed by Justice K Ramanna upheld the District Forum’s verdict.