Dipika Pallikal, livid by the way the Axis bank treated her during a foreign tour, and which she claimed affec... Read More

CHENNAI: Arjuna awardee and squash champion Dipika Pallikal , livid by the way the Axis bank treated her during a foreign tour, and which she claimed affected her performance, sued it for Rs 10 lakh. But the bank responded by throwing the ball back in her court saying she isn't tough enough. Dipika is the first Indian woman to crack top 10 in WSA rankings.

Ranked number 13 in the world in 2011, Pallikal was participating in Cathay Pacific Sun Hung Kai Squash Open in Rotterdam, Holland. Before her first round match, she had to pay a bill of 490 euros (Rs 30,000) at a hotel. But despite having a balance of more than Rs 2 lakh in her account, the transaction failed, with the card-reading device showing "link error".

An upset Dipika called her mother, who contacted the bank's relationship manager, but he couldn't help. An embarrassed Pallikal – the incident took place in front of international athletes – used another card to pay her bill.

Hurt and humiliated, Dipika filed a case before the South Chennai District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum in 2012, claiming the humiliation affected her game, causing her to crash out in the first round of that tournament. "Not only was her personal glory and prestige jeopardised, (India's) national glory also took a hit," submitted her advocate Sanjay Pinto in court.

But the bank, unmoved, said, "The very fact that the complainant is not able to take the slightest disturbance would prove that she lacks the requisite mental toughness of world champions."

The same year, in 2012, Pallikal received a cheque of Rs 1 lakh from the sports ministry. She submitted it to the same bank for clearance, but it failed to credit the money into her account. "The cheque was dishonoured due to a 'technical error'," said her advocate.

This time Axis Bank said the cheque was not cleared due to an "inadvertent error", and delayed returning the cheque to Dipika due to "teething problems". It even alleged Dipika was attempting to "claim monetary benefits by illegal means".

As for her debit card at Rotterdam, the bank said the failure of transaction was the result of "an act of God, over which the bank did not have any control". Dipika has countered saying she was lucky to be carrying another card and the second transaction was successful in the first attempt. It showed that there was no fault with the card-reading device and "there was no situation beyond the control of the bank" that prevented a basic transaction. The bank's failure to clear the cheque, she said, forced her to "engage in yet another time-consuming, cumbersome and frustrating round of communication" with the bank.

After arguments on August 29, the court posted the next hearing on September 4.