Card-machine payments delayed 457 days; commission orders Rs 40,000 compensation to businessman

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NEW DELHI: A cloth trader whose card machine payments of Rs 9.38 lakh were delayed for 457 days has secured relief from the Warangal district consumer commission. The commission directed Worldline India to pay 8 percent annual interest on the amount for the delayed period, besides Rs 30,000 for mental agony and Rs 10,000 towards costs. The order was passed on September 18, 2026.Why was the trader’s money delayed?According to the commission order, Mother Traders, a cloth business in Warangal, used bank card swiping machines for business transactions. Varaneek Technologies was the service provider, Worldline India was the manufacturer/payment aggregator and Union Bank of India was arrayed as the banker.The trader alleged that the card payments made through the machines during November and December 2024 were not credited to his bank account. He approached the service provider and sought payment of Rs 9,38,942.According to the complaint, the service provider later acknowledged that Rs 10,65,691, including an amount involving another firm, was being held because of technical problems and asked the trader to wait until May 5, 2025. The money was still not released, following which he sent legal notices to the parties.The service provider denied liability and said Worldline had flagged seven transactions as suspicious following a report from Visa. It said the transactions had been stopped for verification and that its own role was limited to onboarding merchants and facilitating payment processing.Union Bank also denied liability and questioned the trader’s claim, including the absence of details about the specific dates and amounts of the transactions.During the case, the trader informed the commission that the principal amount of Rs 9,38,942 had eventually been credited to him on March 27, 2026. He alleged that the interest for the 457-day delay remained unpaid.What did the consumer commission find?The bench of President G Nagaraju and member V Janardhan Reddy held that the delay was attributable to Worldline. It noted that the service provider and Worldline were involved in the transactions relating to crediting the money to the beneficiary’s bank account.“But the complainant has received amount after 457 days, because of negligence of Opposite Party No.2,” the commission said.It also examined the agreement between the service provider and Worldline and noted that Worldline was involved in transactions and services relating to credit and debit cards.The commission held that the delay in remitting the money amounted to deficiency in service.“Therefore, the non-payment and debiting amounts to the banker amounts to deficiency of service. But subsequently it was paid on 27-03-2026 with a delay of 457 days, therefore, there is deficiency of service…,” the commission added.The commission rejected the claim against the service provider and Union Bank, finding no deficiency of service attributable to them.What did the consumer commission order?The Warangal district consumer commission partly allowed the complaint and directed Worldline India to:

The commission therefore awarded compensation and interest for the delayed credit of the trader’s card transactions, while holding Worldline responsible for the service deficiency.