Mohali, May 26 -- The Mohali District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed the Central Bank of India to refund Rs.95,587 deducted from a former staff member's account after the bank claimed she was wrongly granted an additional interest on fixed deposits for several years. The commission observed that once a person had served an institution, the individual could not be denied the status of an ex-employee merely because he or she had resigned from service. The order came on a complaint filed by Neha Khanna, a resident of Zirakpur, against the Central Bank of India. Khanna had joined the bank as a clerk in November 1993 and resigned in January 2005 due to family circumstances after serving for around 12 years. According to the complaint, she opened several fixed deposits (FDRs) between 2012 and 2013 at Chandigarh and Zirakpur branches of the Central Bank of India. She said that branch officials informed her she was entitled to an additional 1% interest on FDRs under the 'ex-staff' category. The bank continued giving her the enhanced interest benefit for several years, even after her deposits were transferred to another branch in Zirakpur in 2015. However, in May 2022, the bank informed her that employees who resigned from service were not eligible for the additional interest benefit and sought a recovery of Rs.95,587, alleging excess payment. The amount was later deducted from her account in July 2022 despite her objections and representations. In its reply before the commission, the bank argued that only serving employees and retired pensioners were entitled to the extra 1% interest. It claimed the benefit was mistakenly extended to the complainant due to an inadvertent error. The commission, comprising president SK Aggarwal, member Paramjeet Kaur and member Lt Col Jasbir Singh Bath, rejected the bank's stand. The commission held that the complainant had never concealed her service history or resignation from the bank and that the additional benefit had been extended with full knowledge of the facts by bank officials themselves. "If any excess benefit had been extended, the same was due to the acts, assurance and conduct of the officials of the OPs themselves," the commission observed. Calling the deduction 'arbitrary' and 'unjustified', the commission held the bank guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice. The commission directed the bank to refund Rs.95,587 with 6% annual interest from the date of deduction till payment. It further ordered the bank to pay Rs.10,000 as compensation for mental agony and harassment....