DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM-II

U.T. CHANDIGARH

1.                 Ramanpreet Singh son of Sh. Gurbax Singh.

2.                 Amandeep Singh son of Sh. Gurbax Singh.

3.                 Gurbax Singh son of Harbail Singh.

All residents of House No.748, Phase II, Mohali

                                      ---Complainants.

Versus

1.                 Book My Holiday, India Today Group having office at Mail Stop #1023, Skyloft, Business Suites, First Floor, Advant Navis Business Park, # 7, Sector 142, Express Way, Noida 201301

2.                 India Today Group having office SCO No.147-48, Sector 9-C, Chandigarh.

---Opposite Parties.

BEFORE:  SHRI LAKSHMAN SHARMA                 PRESIDENT

                   SMT. MADHU MUTNEJA                       MEMBER

                   SHRI JASWINDER SINGH SIDHU       MEMBER

Argued by:  Sh. Y.S. Dhillon, Adv. for the complainants

                        Sh. Sahil Ralli, Adv. for OP No.1

                        OP No.2 exparte. 

PER LAKSHMAN SHARMA, PRESIDENT

1.                           Sh. Ramanpreet Singh and two others have filed this complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (hereinafter referred to as the Act only) praying for the following reliefs :-

(i)                To refund Rs.21,000/- deposited for the bookings of holiday package alongwith interest @ 12% p.a.

(ii)             To pay Rs.2,00,000/- as compensation for harassment and mental agony.

(iii)           To pay the amount of tickets booked from Bangkok to Koh Sumai and return.

(iv)           To pay litigation expenses of Rs.25,000/-.

2.                           In brief, the case of the complainants is that they were desirous of going to Thailand for holiday.  The wife of Sh. Amandeep Singh, complainant No.2 received a proposal from the opposite parties regarding a holiday package.  She discussed the same with the complainants at home.  Thereafter, complainant No.2 contacted opposite party No.1 at its website bookmyholiday.com.in from where he got its contact number. 

                   On 8.7.2011, the complainants contacted the customer care No.01206761950 of the opposite party and expressed desire to go abroad from 13.8.2011 to 20.8.2011. On 9.7.2011 the complainants were contacted by Ms. Sanjana Srivastava, employee of opposite party No.1, through email requiring the complainants to deposit Rs.21,000/- as booking charges at the link “bag it today.com/itbc”.  Complainant No.1 made payment of Rs.14,000/- through his credit card and Rs.7,000/- was paid through bank transfer. The opposite parties also told the complainants that they would get two I.Pods (make Apple) as gift.

                   On 12.7.2011, the complainant received an SMS from mobile No.09716678845 at 6.07 PM containing booking IDs of Abhijeet, Ramanpreet and Gurbax.  Another message was received from mobile No.097166788 advising the complainants to book their tickets as all the work regarding hotel bookings had been done.  It has further been pleaded that on 13.7.2011, complainant No.1 received an SMS from Sanjana Srivastava confirming the hotel bookings.  The complainants were further told to go ahead with the purchase of tickets. So, according to the complainants, they booked their tickets through Elevate Travels and spent a sum of Rs.2,50,300/-, which were non returnable.  On 14.7.2011 the complainants received calls from Sanjana Srivastava regarding bookings done and they were also told that they would receive the hotel vouchers by 18.7.2011.

                   According to the complainants, on 14.7.2011 itself, another call was received from Sanjana Srivastava intimating that the booking could be done only after 45 days and she further told that the earlier information was false.  She also advised the complainants to talk to her senior namely Mr. Prince.  Complainant No.1 contacted the said Mr. Prince but he was told that the information regarding booking of the hotels etc. was wrong.  Thus, according to the complainant, he was made to spend a sum of Rs.2,50,300/- for purchasing the tickets unnecessarily without there being any booking for hotels etc. and the opposite parties failed to provide the services for which their services were hired, which amounts to deficiency in service.

                   In these circumstances, the present complaint has been filed seeking the reliefs mentioned above.

3.                           In its written statement opposite party No.1 admitted that the complainant approached it for purchasing the holiday package.  It has also been admitted that the complainant paid a total sum of Rs.21,000/-.  However, it has been denied that any promise was made for giving two IPODS as gift.  It has been pleaded that all the allegations regarding telephonic conversation, messages and emails sent by Sanjana Srivastav and Mukesh are absolutely wrong.  They did not send any message nor did they tell the complainants that hotels have been booked or asked the complainants to purchase the tickets.  All the averments to this effect according to the opposite parties are false.  It has further been pleaded that the terms and conditions of the contract provided that no booking shall be accepted through fax, phone or email and it is mandatory for the customer to provide with a choice of three separate dates and destinations. Some preliminary objections have also been taken which includes the objection regarding territorial jurisdiction of this Forum.

                   According to the opposite party, there is no deficiency in service on its part and the complaint deserves dismissal.

4.                           Opposite party No.2 did not appear despite due service, hence it was proceeded against exparte.

5.                           We have heard the learned counsel for the contesting parties and have gone through the documents on record.

6.                           The first argument advanced by the ld. Counsel for opposite party No.1 was regarding the territorial jurisdiction of this Forum.  It has been averred that no cause of action took place at Chandigarh, therefore, this Forum has no jurisdiction.  Our attention has been drawn to the complaint itself.  As per the complaint, the opposite party was contacted through email at its Noida office; the payment was made by electronic transfer of the amount at Noida and the tickets were also purchased through email from Delhi.  Thus, according to the ld. Counsel for the opposite party, no cause of action took place at Chandigarh.  Therefore, this Forum has no territorial jurisdiction in view of case titled Sonic Surgical Vs. National Insurance Company Ltd. reported in IV (2009) CPJ 40 (SC).

7.                           The ld. Counsel for the complainants has failed to draw our attention to any averment to the effect that any cause of action took place at Chandigarh.  In these circumstances, to our mind, the ratio of case titled Sonic Surgical (supra) is squarely applicable to the facts and circumstances of this case as no cause of action took place at Chandigarh.

8.                           So, this Forum has no jurisdiction to entertain and decide this complaint.   Hence this complaint is dismissed for want of territorial jurisdiction.

9.                           Certified copy of this order be communicated to the parties, free of charge. After compliance file be consigned to record room.

Announced

12.09.2012.

Sd/-

(LAKSHMAN SHARMA)

PRESIDENT

Sd/-

 (MADHU MUTNEJA)

MEMBER

Sd/-

(JASWINDER SINGH SIDHU)

MEMBER