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6. On 6th August, 2013, the Consumer filed an application under Section 17 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 7. This application which was allowed by the SCDRC on 13 th July, 2016 directing the Bank to pay a sum of Rs.27,41,165/- along with interest @9% from the date of filing the complaint till the date of payment. The appeal before the NCDRC against such order remained unsuccessful.

7. Learned counsel for the Bank pointed out that the procedure for sanction of loan is detailed in the Bank’s Circular dated 20 th April, 2005 which is available on the website of the Bank as well. It is mandatory to obtain a TEV study report in all new industrial projects, diversification projects and accounts where restructuring (Other than CDR) is proposed and where the total fund based limits/exposure (including liabilities likely to get devolved in the case of existing accounts) is equal to and above the threshold limit of Rs. 500 lacs. The term “Total Fund Based Limits” includes both term loan and Working Capital Limit. It is further submitted that in case of a new account with the Bank, the “Total Fund Based Limits”, for the purpose of applicability of TEV study as well as for charging of Appraisal Fees, will be the “Aggregate Fund Based Limits” sought by the proponents vide their application. In the case of an existing account holder with the Bank, subject to the various clauses of exceptions listed herein below, the applicability of TEV study will be decided by:

(d) Upfront portion of Appraisal Fees, as explained in later paragraph, should be collected (or earmarked in the deposit account of a new proponent/existing advance account of an existing customer with us) and should be confirmed by the Branch while forwarding pa- pers for TEV study.

(e) In order to avoid any time delay in the process of TEV study, all pa-

pers needed for such study should be preferably obtained from the proponents in one go, verified by the Branch for completeness, and then sent to TAC/TAD, as the case may be, for commencement of study.

9. It is further pointed out that appraisal fees for TEV study is different from the “Processing Fees” and is required to be charged in applicable cases over and above the processing fees. The appraisal fee is to be recovered from industrial constituents seeking aggregate fund based limits of Rs. 30 lakhs and above whether such cases are referred to TAD/TAC or fall under exempted category. Appraisal being an internal matter, exemption from applicability of TEV study does not mean exemption from payment of appraisal fee because in such cases also there is always an implied appraisal/assessment at the Branch level. The appraisal fee is chargeable at the time of considering fresh/additional fund based limits. The fee will be charged on the basis of aggregate fund based limits applied for by the proponent at the time of first appraisal. The same will be on the basis of only incremental fund based limits applied for in respect of subsequent appraisals. The appraisal fee is to be recovered as per fee structure given and is exclusive of out of pocket expenses like travelling/lodging/boarding etc. incidental to carrying out inspection(s).

11. Learned counsel for the Bank also refers to communication dated 22nd August, 2005 by its Head Office to the Branches. The letter is reproduced as under:

“Revenue Loss due to delay in Recovery of Processing Charges As per extant guidelines processing charges are required to be recovered before the request for facilities is processed (50% of applicable charges in the cases involving TEV study and 100% in others. These processing charges are not refundable even if the requested limits are not considered by the Bank, except in case of Technical evaluation study.