Standard Chartered asked to pay Rs 50,000 compensation

The Standard Chartered Bank has been asked by a consumer court here to pay compensation of Rs 50,000 to logistics firm Kuehne & Nagel (India) Ltd for clearing a bearer cheque of Rs 400,000 without comparing the authorised signatures. Despite guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India to all banks not to make payments against bearer cheques of heavy amounts above Rs 50,000, the bank cleared the cheque of Rs 400,000 without carefully comparing the signatures of the signatory with the specimen signatures, so the bank is held guilty for deficiency in service," Justice J D Kapoor of the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission said in his order.