This is a time when the stress is at an all-time high. Be it traffic, pollution, electricity/water woes, overcrowded trains, crumbling infrastructure, nagging family members, inflation, job tensions…stress and problems are all around us. Most of the people try their best to avoid problems and alterations so as to not to add tension to their already tensed environment. However, few people and organizations don’t think that way. They love to harass unnecessarily without provocation. Thankfully, they get punishment for their deeds. Yet, they don’t learn and carry on with their sins. Bajaj Auto Finance Limited is a case in point!
It all started when my father acquired a personal loan in 2007 from Standard Chartered Bank. In 2009, Bajaj Auto Finance Limited acquired the Loan Portfolio of Standard Chartered (and didn’t inform us about the same). The loan was fully paid in June 2010 and settlement letter was acquired by my father. However, according to Bajaj Auto Finance Limited, my father had issues a cheque of Rs 1, 50, 000 in 2009 which bounced. They sent notices to my father for the same. He informed them that the loan has been paid and that there’s some mistake on their part. But they refused to accept it and started calling us incessantly. Some of the calls were outright derogatory. Moreover, they slapped a case on us. However, we had no fear. We were prepared. We were right.
The case commenced in April 2011. We had all the necessary and relevant documents to prove our innocence. Bajaj Auto Finance Limited made lot of claims, all of which were proved wrong. During the proceedings, it came to light that when the loan was taken, Standard Chartered had acquired four blank cheques from my father (without amount, payee and date specified). After the loan was duly paid, the cheques weren’t returned. Bajaj Auto Finance Limited misused these cheques to file the case! We had documents to prove that we had settled the loan amount. Bajaj Auto Finance Limited had no documentary evidence to show that an amount of Rs 1, 50, 000 was outstanding.
The final judgement was announced in January 2012. My father was acquitted of all charges. Bajaj Auto Finance Limited guys knew that they stand no chance to win and hence ditched the final hearing! The honorary judge seemed quite angry with Bajaj and said that countless number of times, they have filed cases against innocent customers and got defeated badly. Yet, they are not ready to mend ways.
But this is not the end of story. We were harassed without provocation. We shall file a case of mental harassment against Bajaj Auto Finance Limited and hope to teach them a nice lesson. As for the readers, needless to say – don’t ever deal with Bajaj Auto Finance Limited even in your wildest dreams!