Man wins 20k for delay in getting update on mutual fund

Bengaluru: A city consumer court recently ordered the MD and CEO of asset management company UTI Mutual Fund to pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 for failing to update a customer’s investment of Rs 18.8 lakh for 45 days. However, the court dismissed as “not genuine” the customer’s claim that the firm showed zero as his deposited value.Sanjaynagar resident SM Ramesh from February 2012 subscribed to Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) of UTI Mutual Fund, continued to pay all instalments and didn’t withdraw the money at any point till last year. As of February 16, 2023, he held 56,454 units worth Rs 18,75,781 in his account. But the Bengalurean claimed he sent an email to UTI on April 2, 2023, and was shocked to know his holdings were shown as zero in value. The following day, he approached the mutual fund operator but was merely directed to the toll-free number for his grievance.With no response from UTI, he shot off a complaint to the MD and CEO of UTI Mutual Fund apart from SEBI and the Prime Minister’s Office. He received a response 45 days later that his mutual funds’ value was intact, reading Rs 18,75,781. Meanwhile, on June 2023, Ramesh approached the Bengaluru Urban first additional district consumer disputes redressal commission in Shantinagar with a complaint of service deficiency against the MD and CEO of UTI Mutual Fund.The Bengalurean argued his case on his own, while the UTI counsel stated that nowhere in any report did the UTI Mutual Fund say that the customer’s investments were zero and the customer’s accusation was false. For a trivial issue, he had sent complaints to top people though the exact worth of his holdings was sent to him in 45 days, the counsel added.Service deficiencyIn its verdict pronounced in the case on January 11, 2024, the Bengaluru consumer forum noted that Ramesh’s claim of zero value given by UTI towards his investments was not genuine. But there has been a long delay of 45 days from the firm’s side in updating the customer on his investments despite him having sent numerous emails to the UTI representatives which was indeed a service deficiency, the judges said.The consumer court ruled that the MD and CEO of UTI Mutual Fund must pay a compensation of Rs 15,000 with interest to the Bengaluru customer within two months of the order, apart from paying him Rs 5,000 towards his court expenses.