Mumbai HC Slaps ₹50K Fine On Yes Bank For Delaying Account Opening Over Aadhaar Despite SC Relief

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has directed Yes Bank to pay Rs 50,000 compensation to Microfibers Pvt Ltd for delaying the opening of a bank account on the incorrect insistence of an Aadhaar card, despite interim relief granted by the Supreme Court at the time.

A bench of Justices MS Sonak and Jitendra Jain noted that although the Bank eventually complied and opened the account in January 2019, it had failed to do so from April to September 2018, during which Aadhaar was not mandatory.

The Court was hearing a petition filed by the company, in June 2018, after Yes Bank refused to open an account without Aadhaar. “There was no justification for not opening the Bank account after 26th September 2018,” the judges said, referring to the Supreme Court’s verdict in ano there matter, which struck down the requirement of Aadhaar for opening bank accounts.

The petitioner’s counsel submitted that due to the absence of a bank account, Microfibers Pvt Ltd could not rent out its premises in Mumbai for a year.

“The Founder-Director had already passed away, and the surviving 84-year-old widow and their unmarried daughter were unable to generate any income,” the counsel argued, claiming a rent loss of Rs 1.5 lakh per month and seeking Rs 10 lakh in compensation.

The High Court, however, found the claim excessive. “We believe that the claim for compensation in the amount of Rs 10 lakhs is exaggerated and cannot be granted,” the bench said.

Still, taking into account that the Bank had not filed any reply on the issue of compensation and the petitioner did not have alternate means of income, the Court awarded Rs 50,000.

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“Considering these peculiar circumstances, we do not relegate the petitioner to the ordinary remedies,” the bench noted, while directing Yes Bank to pay the amount in eight weeks.