STATE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION OF TELANGANA :

                                           At  HYDERABAD

                                                      FA 1046 of 2013

                                                   AGAINST

                          CC 890 of 2010, DISTRICT FORUM II, HYDERABAD

Between :

M/s. Inter Globe Aviation Ltd

Through Mr. Vivek Saxena,

Associate General counsel

Level 1, Tower C,

Global business park,

Mehrauli Gurgaon road,

Gurgaon – 122 002, Haryana             ..        Appellant/3^rd opposite party

And

1. K.K. Sinha, S/o Sri S.S. Sinha,

Aged about 75 years, Occ: Retired CMD

R/o 1-2-16/10, Kakatiyanagar, Habsiguda

Hyderabad – 500 007           .. Respondent/complainant

2. M/s. Andhra Bank Credit Card Division,

Andhra Bank Building,  Koti, Hyderabad – 500 095.

3. M/s. Make My Trip Private Limited

ABK-OLBEE Plaza, Road No,.1, Banjara Hills,

Hyderabad .

4. M/s. Kingfisher Airlines

Saifabad, Hyderabad                     ..Respondents/Ops 1,2 and 4

(Respondents 2 to 4 are not necessary parties )

Counsel for the Appellant        :         M/s. Indus Law Firm

Counsel for the Respondents   :         served for R-1

Coram                :

                 Honble Sri Justice B. N. Rao Nalla         …      President

                                           And

                          Sri Patil Vithal Rao              …      Member

                          Thursday,  the Thirtieth Day of November

                                  Two Thousand Seventeen

Oral order : ( per Hon’ ble Sri Justice B.N.Rao Nalla, Hon’ble President )

                                                            ***

1)       This is an appeal   filed under Section 15 of the Consumer Protection Act by the 3^rd opposite party praying this Commission to set aside the  impugned order dated 16.07.2013  made in CC 890 of 2010 on the file of the  DISTRICT FORUM-II, Hyderabad   and allow the appeal.  

2)       For the sake of convenience, the parties are described as arrayed in the complaints before the District Forum.

3).      The case of the complainant, in brief, is that he purchased Air Tickets to make journey from Patna to Hyderabad through ‘ Make My Trip’ using Andhra Bank Credit Card for himself and his wife for an amount of Rs.20,438, i.e., the fare from  Patna to New Delhi is Rs.9,880/- by AI  Flight - 410 on 5^th June, 2009 at 0905 hours and Rs.10,558/- for the fare from New Delhi to Hyderabad on 5^th June, 2009 at 12.20 hours by Indigo Flight # 305. The AI Flight No. 410 on 5^th June, 2009 was delayed by over two hours; therefore, they missed the Indigo 305 from New Delhi to Hyderabad. Therefore, they were forced to buy fresh tickets for IC 839 flight leaving Delhi at 4.55 PM.  The AI Staff at Delhi refused to give any concession even though the fault lies on them.   Since the Indigo flight No. 305 ticket was refunded, his request to the first opposite party Andhra Bank to stop payment was not complied with. For cancellation of his tickets, they have charged Rs.500/-  from his ticket fare and Rs.1,250/- from his wife’s ticket fare  though both the tickets booked together. He had remitted only Rs.1000/- to the Andhra Bank towards this account. However, it remitted the total unjustified amount of Rs.1750/- towards cancellation charges to M/s. Kingfisher Airlines  and are now pestering him to make it good along with interest and fines and prayed to direct the Andhra Bank to withdrawn their claim on him. Hence the complaint to direct the opposite parties to pay Rs.20,000/- towards harassment along with the refund of the above charged amount.  

4).      The first opposite party opposed the above complaint by way of written version contending that it has informed to the complainant through e-mail on 01.09.2009 stating that there is no stop payment facility to any card transaction and after approval it is debited through Visa and receipt of the same will be debited to card holder account through system and suggested to settle the issue with Kingfisher Airlines for the cancellation of the charges levied.  As per the VISA norms the bank is bound to debit flight charges etc to the credit card holder account and pay the amount to the concerned airlines company. There is no stop payment facility after utilizing the credit card in the case of purchasing flight tickets and further that it had to pay the amount to the airlines. There is no deficiency in service on their part. Hence prayed to dismiss the complaint.

5)       The second opposite party No. 2 opposed the complaint by way of written version and contended that it booked tickets for journey from Patna to New Delhi and New Delhi to Hyderabad on 5^th June, 2009 in question and issued the same to the complainant for an amount of Rs.20,438/-, he paid the same by using Andhra Bank Visa Credit Card, in turn,  it paid the said amount to both airlines. Due to delay of the AI flight for two hours, the complainant missed the GO Indigo flight scheduled to travel from New Delhi to Hyderabad. Indian Airlines did not make any alternate arrangements. The complainant had to  purchase fresh tickets in another flight. Its role is very limited to the extent to issue confirmed tickets and it complied the same. The third opposite party has to refund ticket amount of Rs.10,558/- to the complainant. The complainant did not approach it to process the same. Hence there is no deficiency in service on its part and prayed to dismiss the complaint.

6)       The opposite party no. 3 in their counter resisting the complaint contended that  refund of  the amount pertaining to Indigo flight from New Delhi to Hyderabad cannot be countenanced except as per the stipulated conditions of carriage for missing of the flight in question and an amount of Rs.449/- has been paid on 27^th April, 2011 as per conditions. As per their record, the complainant reached at Indigo counter at Delhi Airport at 12.37 pm , i.e., 17 minutes after the departure of the flight no. 305 on 05.06.2009. Therefore,  there was no deficiency in service on their part. Hence prayed to dismiss the complaint.

7.       The fourth opposite party   was called absent and hence set exparte on 04.01.2013.

8)       During the course of enquiry before the District Forum, in order to prove his    case, the complainant   filed his  evidence affidavit and got marked Ex.A1 to A-13. Evidence Affidavit of opposite parties 1, 2 and 3 are filed and got marked Ex. B1 to B3.

9)       The District Forum, after considering the material available on record,  directed the opposite parties 3 and 4 jointly and severally liable  to pay Rs.1,750/- deducted towards cancellation charges, Rs.2,000/- towards compensation and costs of Rs.1,000/- within 30 days to the complainant.

10)     Aggrieved by the said order, the opposite party no. 3 preferred this appeal before this Commission.

11)     It is evident from record that there has been no representation on behalf of the first respondent/complainant right from 28.11.2016 and no written arguments were filed. Heard the counsel for the appellant/3^rd opposite party  and he also filed written arguments.

12)     The points that arise for consideration are,

(i)       Whether the impugned order as passed by the District Forum suffers from any error or irregularity or whether it is liable to be set aside, modified or interfered with, in any manner?

(ii)      To what relief ?

13).   Point No.1 :

There is no dispute that the complainant purchased air tickets through second opposite party to travel from Patna to New Delhi by Indian Airlines and from New Delhi to Hyderabad by Indigo Airlines on 05.06.2009. There is also no dispute that, the Indigo flight left for Hyderabad by the time the Indian Airlines flight reached New Delhi Airport and the first respondent/complainant and his wife missed the Indigo flight to go to Hyderabad.  For cancellation of tickets, the third opposite party charged Rs.500/- from the ticket of the first respondent/ complainant and Rs.1,250/- from his wife’s ticket and hence he sustained loss at Rs.1,750/- vide Ex.A-3. There is also no dispute that he had to purchase fresh tickets in another flight from New Delhi to Hyderabad.

14).    Now, the point to be considered is, whether the appellant/3^rd opposite party is entitled to deduct an amount of Rs.1,750/- towards penalty charges.

15).    Counsel for the appellant/3^rd opposite party argued that as per clause 7.1 check-in and Boarding, Indigo recommends that customer’s report for check-in at least 2 hours prior to the departure of the scheduled flight. The customer’s journey will be smoother if they allow themselves ample time to comply with the check-in timelines. IndiGo reserves the right to cancel a customer’s reservation if he/she does not comply with the Check-in timelines.  Check-in closes 45 minutes prior to the scheduled departure of the flight. Failure to complete the check-in formalities within the stipulated time limit would result in forfeiture of the booking amount. The booking would be declared a “  No Show’  and the consumer would not be entitled to a refund or a credit shell.  As per clause 7.2, Boarding, in order to maintain schedules, the boarding gate will be closed 30 minutes prior to the departure time.  The customers must be present at the boarding gate not later than the time specified by IndiGo when they check-in. However,  the appellant  has refunded the passenger service  fee, being INR 299/- and User Development Fee being INR 200/- to the agency account of the respondent no. 3. Hence there is no deficiency in service on their part.

16).    Admittedly, the first respondent/complainant reached the New Delhi Airport after the departure of the indiGo Airlines for Hyderabad as per the schedule and  due to the delay of flight of the Indian Airlines from Patna to New Delhi, the first respondent/complainant  missed the flight. The appellant/3^rd opposite party deducted an amount of Rs.500/- from the ticket charges of him  and Rs.1,250/- from his ticket charges of his wife  towards penalty charges, but, there is no explanation for the difference in penalty charges for the same flight, same ticket, same journey for the wife and husband ticket charges.. No doubt, they have brought to our notice with regard to clause 7.1 which states the consumers shall report for check-in at lest two hours prior to the departure of the scheduled flight and the boarding gate will be closed 30 minutes prior to the departure time. But, the appellant/3^rd opposite party did not place before us what is the percentage of the amount that is to be deducted from the ticket charges if a passenger missed the flight towards the penalty charges and the concerned prescribed rule. They have cited various clauses and citations but failed to answer  important point. In the absence of presentation of  any prescribed rule with regard to the entitlement of deduction of amount towards penalty charges from the ticket charges the appeal is not liable to be allowed.

17).              After considering the foregoing facts and circumstances and also having regard to the contentions raised on behalf of the appellant/3^rd opposite party  and the 1^st respondent/complainant,  this Commission is of the view that there is no infirmity or irregularity in the order passed by the District Forum and hence the appeal is liable to be dismissed.

18).    Point No. 2 :

In the result the appeal is dismissed confirming the impugned order dated 16.07.2013 passed by the District Forum-II, Hyderabad in CC 890 of 2010. There shall be no order as to costs. Time  for compliance four weeks.

                                                            PRESIDENT                     MEMBER                                                                                     Dated :  30.11.2017.