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TMI Blog2024 (2) TMI 1529X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of the appellant and thus, it is liable to pay compensation to the respondent No. 1, which is M/s Ad Bureau Pvt. Ltd., (a company engaged in the business of branding, consulting & advertising). 3. On the other hand, Civil Appeal (Diary) No. 20192 of 2024 has been filed by M/s Ad Bureau Pvt. Ltd., challenging the quantum of compensation awarded by the NCDRC, on the ground that the same has been awarded inadequately. For the sake of convenience, we shall refer to the parties as per their respective status in Civil Appeal No. 7483 of 2023. 4. The NCDRC vide its order dated 30.08.2023 has allowed the Consumer Complaint filed by respondent No.1 herein and has directed the appellants Appellant Nos. 1, 2 & 3 are the Chief Manager, Mount Road Branch, Chennai; Field General Manager, Chennai; and the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the Central Bank of India respectively to pay a compensation of Rs. 75,00,000/to respondent No.1 and to issue a certificate stating that the loan account of respondent No.1 with the Central Bank of India was settled and no outstanding dues remained in the said account and also holding that the Bank had wrongly reported the status of respondent No ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Certificate' was issued on 13.01.2017 and 20.03.2017 by the appellant-bank towards respondent No.1. Further, a 'full-satisfaction memo' was also filed before the DRT by the appellant-bank, wherein the factum of payment of the onetime settlement amount and delayed interest by respondent No. 1 was accepted by the appellant-bank. 8. The precise case of the respondent No. 1 before the NCDRC, as well as before this Court, has been that the appellant-bank was grossly negligent and deficient in providing banking services to respondent No. 1 and has consequently caused monetary damages and a loss of reputation to it. As per the 'Master Circular on Wilful Defaulters' Circular No. DBOD No. BC/CIS/47/20.16.002/94 dated 23.04.1994 by the Reserve Bank of India (hereinafter, 'RBI'), all nationalised banks and financial institutions have to report information regarding borrower accounts which are classified as doubtful and loss accounts with outstanding amount aggregating Rs. 1 Crore and above. These borrowers are classified and reported as 'wilful defaulters' by the respective banks and financial institutions to the RBI, which in turn, consolidates the entire information reported in the form of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... learned counsel for the appellants that the order dated 30.08.2023 of the NCDRC is not sustainable in law, as it was passed without first adjudicating whether the respondent No. 1 falls within the definition of consumer in terms of Section 2 (1) (d) (ii) of the Act. It has been further submitted by the learned counsel for the appellants as well as learned counsel for respondent No. 2 that respondent No. 1 does not come within the definition of 'consumer' under Section 2 (1) (d) (ii) of the Act since the service availed (sanction of project loan) by respondent No. 1 from the appellant-bank was purely for a commercial purpose and it was a loan transaction between two business entities. In other words, it was business-to-business transaction as opposed to a business-to-consumer transaction. This is the first limb of the argument. The second limb, which is a continuation of the first, is that this service was availed by respondent No.1 with the 'dominant intention' of generating profits and the main purpose behind the loan transaction was to increase/generate additional revenue for the company. In support of this argument, learned counsel(s) have relied upon two decisions of this Court ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... oduction of a movie titled "Kochadaiiyaan" and to see to it that the name of respondent No.1 is displayed on the movie title, the posters of the movie as well as the advertisements of the movie. In other words, it was a self-branding exercise, the sole purpose being building a brand name for respondent No.1, in order to earn livelihood and thus, there is no nexus to generation of profits. 16. We are not convinced by this argument put forth on behalf of respondent No. 1 for the simple reason that even if partly, it may be true that the loan was availed for a self-branding exercise, the dominant purpose behind brand-building itself is to attract more customers and consequently generate profits or increase revenue for the business. A bald averment that company engaged itself in the post-production of the movie solely for the purposes of brand-building does not alter the fundamental nature of the transaction, i.e. the availing of credit facility from the appellant-bank, which was purely a business-to-business transaction, entered into for a commercial purpose. Post-production of a film involves multiple activities, which finally gives shape and presentation to a film, which is a comme ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lant therein had pledged his shares, which were not returned to him despite the matter being settled between the parties through a onetime settlement. Alleging deficiency in service by the respondent-bank, the appellant approached the NCDRC which dismissed the complainant on the grounds of maintainability, holding that he is not a consumer under the provisions of this Act. When the matter came up before this Court, it was the appellant's case that he had availed the overdraft facility for his 'self-employment'. This Court found no merit in this argument and held that the overdraft facility was taken by the appellant therein to expand his business profits and the relationship between the appellant and respondent-bank would purely be a 'business-to-business' relationship and therefore, the transaction would clearly come within the ambit of the term "commercial purpose". 20. Further, in National Insurance Company Limited vs. Harsolia Motors & Ors. (2023) 8 SCC 362, this Court has laid down the determining factors which have to be kept in mind while considering whether a service is availed for a commercial purpose or not. The relevant excerpt is reproduced hereunder: "39. Applying t ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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