Borrower not ‘shopper’ beneath Shopper Safety Act if mortgage taken for revenue: SC

The Advert Bureau contended that regardless of paying the quantity as per the one-time settlement, the financial institution marked it as a defaulter to the CIBIL, which resulted in its reputational harm and enterprise loss.

The corporate then approached the NCDRC alleging deficiency of service on the a part of the financial institution.

The NCDRC allowed the Advert Bureau’s petition (Shopper Grievance) and directed the financial institution to pay a compensation of Rs 75 lakh and subject a certificates stating that the mortgage account was settled and no excellent dues remained.

The highest court docket stated, “We’re cognisant of the truth that respondent No. 1 (firm) wouldn’t be excluded from the definition of shopper merely on account of the truth that it’s a industrial entity/enterprise.

“However what has weighed with us in coming to the conclusion that within the instantaneous case, respondent No. 1 can’t be stated to be a ‘shopper’ is the truth that the transaction in query i.e. acquiring a challenge mortgage did have an in depth nexus with a profit-generating exercise and actually, the dominant objective for getting this mortgage sanctioned was to generate income upon profitable post-production of the film titled ‘Kochadaiyaan,” the bench stated.