Panel dismisses complaint against delay in disbursal of lottery prize money

The Ernakulam District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has dismissed a complaint lodged by a native of Kadungalloor near Aluva, alleging that he did not receive a lottery prize money in time due to delay on the part of the Udyogmandal branch of the Indian Overseas Bank in Eloor in forwarding the lottery ticket to the Directorate of Lotteries.

The order was issued by Commission chairperson D.B. Binu and members V. Ramachandran and T.N. Sreevidhia.

K. Asokan, who won the third prize of ₹10 lakh in the Christmas-New Year bumper lottery 2020, had alleged that the bank authorities had forwarded the lottery ticket to the Directorate of Kerala Lotteries in Thiruananthapuram after 151 days from the deposit of the ticket. He had alleged that there was a deficiency in the service offered by the bank, and that it had caused mental agony to him. He also requested the Commission to issue orders asking the bank to pay a compensation of ₹5 lakh.

The bank authorities informed the Commission that the ticket could not be forwarded to the main branch in Thiruvananthapuram due to the triple lockdown following the pandemic. The Lottery office also took time to process the application. An amount of ₹10,000 was credited to the complainant by the bank on the directive of the Banking Ombudsman based on his complaint.

In the order dated January 28, 2025, the Commission said that there was no deficiency on the part of the bank as the process of approval and disbursal of the prize money got delayed as the documents submitted by the complainant were incomplete. The Director of Kerala Lotteries had credited the eligible prize money of ₹6.3 lakh after necessary deductions, within 30 days from the date of the receipt of the necessary documents, it said.