LAHORE, April 25: Consumer Court Judge Syed Maruf Ahmedali has restrained a bank from recovering transactions made on a credit card after its owner misplaced it.

The judge hearing a petition by Irfan Ahmad against Askari Bank said the transacted amount exceeded the sanctioned limit and did not bear the signatures of the owner.

The petitioner says he has been using the master credit card of the bank since

Sept 2005 and was issued with a new credit card on Sept 4, 2006, when his old card was expired.

He said when he contacted the bank helpline for the activation of the card, he was told the transactions on his old card amounted to Rs40,000 and exceeded the limit.

The petitioner said he asked the bank to block his old credit card after he had misplaced it. He added he was informed that on Sept 5 night, transaction from his old credit card were made from certain outlets.

The judge disallowed the bank from recovering the disputed amount of Rs40,000 and any other amount on account of any fake transaction.

The judge also ordered the bank to pay Rs5,000 as cost and a similar amount as counsel fee to the petitioner within 10 days.