Mohit Yadav vs National Housing Bank (Nhb) on 11 February, 2022

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Central Information Commission

Mohit Yadav vs National Housing Bank (Nhb) on 11 February, 2022

1. The issues under consideration arising out of the second appeal dated 06.08.2019 include non-receipt of the following information raised by the appellant through the RTI application dated 22.03.2019 and first appeal dated 05.05.2019:-

(i) "Provide the details of action taken on his representation dated 03.08.2018 regarding rejection of claim for hospitalization. Also provide the certified copy of relevant note sheets, emails exchanged and file notings in this regard. Also provide the copy of the letter sent by him along with all the notings on the same. If the representation is not pending and a decision has been taken on the Page 1 of 7 said representation, please provide the reason why the decision was not communicated to him

(ii) Provide the details of action taken on his email dated 16.11.2018 addressed to MD & CEO, NHB regarding non-action by officials on his representation.

Please inform whether the same was placed before MD & CEO, NHB. If no, reasons thereof and the name of official to whom the same was placed. Also provide the certified copy of relevant note sheets, emails exchanged and file notings in this regard. Also provide the copy of the email sent by him along with all the notings on the same.

(iii) Provide copy of Bank's hospitalization scheme guidelines along with all the amendments/changes made to these guidelines till date. The same should also be made available on Bank's website under mandatory disclosure requirement u/s 4(1) (b) of RTI Act, 2005.

(iv) Provide the certified copy of the email dated 27-07-2018 sent by Deputy Manager, HR & admin (prama Basu) wherein she had informed about opinion of Bank's Medical Officer and the email dated 30-07-2018 sent by him to Deputy Manager, HR and Admin Deptt. (Prama Basu) and Manager, HR and Admin Deptt. (Puneet Chauhan) vide which he had sought the copy of scheme guidelines and opinion given by the Bank's Medical Officer. Provide certified copy of both the emails. Was there any reason due to which Bank has failed to furnish the scheme guidelines and the opinion of Bank's MO. If yes, please provide the reason for the same.

(v) Provide the certified copy of the opinion of Bank's Medical Officer given on his hospitalization Bills. Also provide the certified copy of all the bills submitted by him for the claim of hospitalization. Also provide the reason as to why the original bills were retained by the Bank despite rejection of hospitalization Page 2 of 7 bills. Also provide the certified copy of relevant note sheets, emails exchanged and file notings in this regard.

(vi) Whether the Bank has reimbursed claims for dental implants under its Hospitalization scheme or OPD scheme. If yes, details thereof. What is the rank and poison of the official to whom such reimbursement was made."

2. Succinctly facts of the case are that the appellant filed an application dated 22.03.2019 under the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) before the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO), National Housing Bank, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, seeking aforesaid information. The CPIO vide letter dated 16.04.2019 replied to the appellant. Dissatisfied with the same, the appellant filed first appeal dated 05.05.2019. The First Appellate Authority (FAA) vide order dated 31.05.2019 disposed of the first appeal. Aggrieved by the same, the appellant filed a second appeal dated 06.08.2019 before the Commission which is under consideration.

3. The appellant has filed the instant appeal dated 06.08.2019 inter alia on the grounds that reply given by the CPIO was not satisfactory. The appellant requested the Commission to direct the CPIO to provide the complete information and take necessary action as per Section 20 (1) of the RTI Act.

4. The CPIO replied vide letter dated 16.04.2019 and the same is reproduced as under:-

(i) "No action was taken on the representation dated 03.08.2018 regarding claim of hospitalization since the opinion of the Bank's Medical Officer was already informed to Shri Mohit Yadav vide email dated 27.07.2018. Copy of the representation has provided to the appellant.

(ii) As per available records, the email dated 16.11.2018 is not available with the bank.

(iii) A copy of the Bank's hospitalization scheme guidelines along with all the amendments/changes made to these guidelines till date has been provided to the appellant.

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(iv) The certified copies of the email dated 27.07.2018 sent by Deputy Manager, HR & Admin (Prama Basu) wherein she had informed about opinion of Bank's Medical Officer and the email dated 30.07.2018 sent by Shri Mohit Yadav to Deputy Manager, HR and Amin Deppt. (Prama Basu) and Manager, HR and Admn Deptt. (Puneet Chauhan) vide which he had sought the copy of scheme guidelines and opinion given by the Bank's Medical Officer has provided the information to the appellant. There was no specific reason due to which the Bank has failed to furnish the scheme guidelines and it may be mentioned that the same was also available in the HR Booklet which was already perused by the applicant as mentioned in his mail dated 30.07.2018. The opinion of the Bank's Medical Officer was already informed to Shri Mohit Yadav vide email dated 27.07.2018. Certified copy of the same has provided to the appellant.

(v) The certified copy of the opinion of Bank's Medical Officer given on his hospitalization bills along with the certified copy of all the bills submitted by him for the claim of hospitalization has provided to the appellant. The certified copy of relevant note sheets, emails exchanged and file notings in this regard provided to the appellant.

(vi) Since the applicant has not specified the period for which he requires the information, the Bank is not in a position to provide the same in case of hospitalization scheme as it is a voluminous document. Further, in case of OPD Scheme, data is not maintained in the required format."

The FAA vide order dated 31.05.2019 provided following information to the appellant:-

(i) "It is observed that though the CPIO has informed that no action was taken on the representation, but the reply is silent on the specific information sought at request no. (ii) about the relevant note-sheets, emails exchanged and file notings with regard to the appellant's representation dated 03.08.2018.

Therefore, the CPIO is directed to provide certified copies of relevant note - sheets, emails exchanged and file notings, if any available, with regard to the Page 4 of 7 appellant's representation dated 03.08.2018 to the appellant within 15 days from the receipt of FAA's order.

(ii) The appellant had in the RTI application sought information about details of the action taken on the applicant's email dated 16.11.2018 addressed to MD & CEO and requested for providing certified copies of the notesheets, emails exchanged, file notings etc. In response, the CPIO has informed the appellant that the email dated 16.01.2018 is not available with the Bank as per the available records. Since the appellant has now provided a copy of the said email iwith this First Appeal, the CPIO is directed to re-examine the request and provide the available information to the appellant within 15 days from the receipt of FAA's order."

After FAA's compliance, the CPIO vide its letter dated 14.06.2019 provided following information to the appellant:

(i) "The bank has no further information to furnish in this regard.

(ii) The representation vide mail dated 16.11.2018 has since been received and no action is required to be taken as the concerns raised in the representation have been replied vide letter no. NHB (ND)/RTI/0779/OUT001087/2019 dated 16.04.2019 and NHB(ND)/RTI/0777/OUT001114/2019 dated 23.04.2019."

5. The appellant and on behalf of the respondent Shri V Rajan, CPIO, Shri Sourav Seal, the then CPIO and Shri Sanjeev Kumar Singh, Manager(RTI), National Housing Bank, Delhi, attended the hearing through audio conference.

5.1. The appellant inter alia submitted that he was an employee in the National Housing Board and had filed a representation after tendering his resignation regarding non-payment of his dues. However, the bank had provided the requisite information in compliance of the FAA's order and had also resolved his grievance. Therefore, he was not willing to pursue his second appeal and requested the Commission to close the matter.

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5.2. The respondent while defending their case inter alia submitted that they had provided the copies of medical scheme, bank's response emails dated 27.07.2018 and 30.07.2018, opinion of the bank's medical officer along with all the bills submitted by him for the claim of hospitalization and office note dated 24.07.2018. They further submitted that the Bank's Human Resource Department had no further information to provide and that full and final settlement amount was informed. The appellant's acknowledgment of the settlement on 09.12.2019 was also available under their custody and there was no further grievance pending.

6. The Commission after adverting to the facts and circumstances of the case, hearing both the parties and perusal of records, observed that due reply was given by the CPIO on 14.06.2019. Further, the appellant during the course of the hearing submitted that he was satisfied with the information and that he was willing to withdraw his appeal. That being so, there appears to be no public interest in further prolonging the matter. Accordingly, the appeal is dismissed as withdrawn.

Copy of the decision be provided free of cost to the parties.

Sd/-

(Suresh Chandra) (सुरेश चं ा) Information Commissioner (सूचना आयु ) दनांक/Date: 10.02.2022 Authenticated true copy R. Sitarama Murthy (आर. सीताराम मूत ) Dy. Registrar (उप पंजीयक) 011-26181927(०११-२६१८१९२७) Page 6 of 7 Addresses of the parties:

CPIO :

1. Central Public Information Officer, NATIONAL HOUSING BANK, CORE 5-A, 3RD TO 5TH FLOOR, INDIA HABIBAT CENTRE, LODHI ROAD, NEW DELHI - 110003 FIRST APPELLATE AUTHORITY, NATIONAL HOUSING BANK, CORE 5-A,3RD TO 5TH FLOOR, INDIA HABIBAT CENTRE, LODHI ROAD, NEW DELHI - 110003 Mohit Yadav Page 7 of 7

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