DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM-II
Udyog Sadan, C-22 & 23, Qutub Institutional Area
(Behind Qutub Hotel), New Delhi-110016.
Case No.544/2013
Susobhan Mondal
Indian Institute of Mass Communication
Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, JNU Campus,
New Delhi-110067 ….Complainant
Versus
1. Central Bank of India
E-22, South Extension-II,
New Delhi-110047
2. Go Airlines (India) Ltd.
Britannia Industries Limited
A-33, Lawrence Road
Industrial Area,
New Delhi-110035 ……Opposite Parties
Date of Institution : 12.11.13 Date of Order : 06.08.16
Coram:
Sh. N.K. Goel, President
Ms. Naina Bakshi, Member
O R D E R
Briefly stated, the case of the Complainant is that he had purchased two air tickets on 03.01.2013 from OP No.2 in favour of his wife Mrs. Santa Mondal and his mother-in-law (70 years old) for the flight from Kolkata to Delhi vide PNR No. T8ZB3E and the journey was scheduled for 07.02.2013. On 07.02.2013 when they reached the airport, it was found that the tickets were cancelled on the purchase date i.e. 03.01.13 itself without any information. Complainant had not received any refund from the OPs. His mother-in-law was about 70 years old and on wheel chair and they were harassed by the duty staff at the airport as an amount of Rs.8348/- for the tickets was debited from his account which was not refunded till date. He contacted the Customer Care of the OP No.2 wherein Mr. Abhishek who was on the line after checking the computer he confessed their mistake and felt sorry for the inconvenience. He had suggested them to purchase new tickets for the same flight and stated that the amount will be refunded shortly. As suggested his wife purchased new tickets vide PNR No. 57LW2V for an amount of Rs.16148/- for the same flight. The OP-2 neither refunded an amount of Rs.8348/- nor they refunded Rs.16148/- despite his sending several emails to the OP-2. Till 18.03.13, both the OPs did not respond to his emails. On 19.03.13, he received an email from OP No.2 which informed that they were investigating the matter and need more time. Another email was received on 21.03.13 from OP No.2 wherein they mentioned that the credit card avenue had processed a refund in his account on 05.01.13 and the RRN was CCA 13AABC622. On 21.03.2013, OP-2 sent another email and stated that the payment was made through internet banking and amount of Rs.8348/- was credited in his CD account No.317053065 with M/s Avenue Utility Bill Payment on 03.01.13. He received a contradictory email from OP No.2 on 02.04.13 informing that the transaction for PNR#T8ZB3E was unsuccessful as the payment transaction had failed and, hence, GoAir had not received any funds for the same. The PNR created was automatically cancelled since no payment was received. We request you to please contact your bank for further details. The Complainant has stated that decision to cancel the tickets after receiving the proper payment was a fraudulent activity and unfair trade practice. Hence, pleading deficiency in service on the part of OPs, the complaint has been filed with the following prayers:-
- Direct the OP No.2 to pay an amount of Rs.1 lac as a penalty for intentional harassment and involvement to fraud him.
- Direct the OP No.2 M/s Go Airlines (India) to pay the new ticket purchase amount of Rs.16,418/- with 5% interest per month.
- Direct the OP No.2 to pay an amount of Rs.50,000/- as a penalty for misbehaving with two lady passengers one of them is a wheel chaired senior citizen passenger.
- Direct the OPs to pay a sum of Rs.30,000/- towards various expenses incurred by the Complainant for the telephone bill, legal fees and conveyance charges.
OP No.1 in the written statement has stated that the Complainant maintains his account No.1201603492 with them at IIMC, JNU Complex, New Delhi. On 30.01.13 he booked a air ticket Go Airlines (India Ltd.) and accordingly Rs.8348/- was debited and thus PNR # T8ZB3E was generated and the money was transferred to the biller, Avenues India Pvt. Ltd. On receiving positive response from the Bank, the OP No.2 printed the tickets and PNR was generated. Hence, there was no deficiency in service on their part. The said amount was paid through M/s Avenue Utility Bill Payment vide journal No.173042919 and was credited in their CD account No.3170530565. At the second stage of transaction cycle due to some technical error or network failure at the billers end (Avenue India Pvt. Ltd.) or at the Go Air transaction was declined, negative response was sent to the OP No.2. This information was not given to the Complainant by the OP No.2 which caused inconvenience at the airport. OP No.2 has stated that in case of online payment the bank does not have direct access to the customer account and hence they are not responsible for the inconvenience, loss or injuries suffered by the Complainant. The delay in repayment of the amount cannot be attributed to deficiency in service as it was an inadvertent procedural lapse which was beyond their control. It is prayed that the complaint be dismissed.
OP No.2 has inter-alia stated that the transaction of the Complainant did not go through and there was a transition failure and a transaction/order No.T8ZB33E-14102353 was generated as transaction failure and the payment was not received from the Complainant, however, since the amount was debited from the Complainant’s account an RRN 130104625 number was generated to enable the complainant to claim refund from the bank; that therefore, since the payments were not received by OP-2 they could not generate the tickets; that as per the terms and conditions which any passenger has to read at the time of booking wherein it is specifically mentioned that it is the duty of the passenger travelling to check the status of the ticket prior to its departure time which the Complainant has not done in this case and no money of the Complainant was lying with them. They asked the Complainant to get in touch with the OP No.1 by providing the RRN No. 130104625 and payment gateaway reference No. CCA13AABC622. As no amount was received from the Complainant, therefore the Complainant’s bank was directed to refund the money of the Complainant. OP No.2 has prayed for dismissal of the complaint.
Complainant has filed rejoinder to the written statement of OPs. In the rejoinder to the written statement of OP No.1 the Complainant has stated that he had visited OP-1 service branch several times to trace out his cancelled ticket amount of Rs.8348/- but OP-1 had not helped him but suddenly on 13.12.13 the OP No.1 credited/refunded of TXN dated 03.01.2013 to his account of Rs.8348/- after almost one year.
Complainant has filed his own affidavit in evidence.
No affidavit in evidence has been filed on behalf of OP No.1.
Affidavit of Sh. Prasad M. Pathare, Sr. Manager Legal on behalf of the OP No.2.
Written arguments have been filed on behalf of the Complainant and OP No.2.
We have heard the argument on behalf of the Complainant and OP No.2 and have also gone through the file very carefully.
The Counsel for Complainant submitted that facts are almost admitted. The OPs have not disputed the booking of the ticket from Kolkata to Delhi for the journey on 07.02.13.
The OP No.1 refunded a sum of Rs.8348/- after a lapse of almost one year from the date of booking of the ticket which shows deficiency in service on the part of OP No.1. Due to negligence of OP No.1, the Complainant had to buy other 2 tickets by paying Rs.16418/-. Hence, he had to pay additional amount of Rs.7070/- for new tickets. Hence, there was no deficiency in service on the part of OP No. 2 as the money was not credited in their account.
The complainant has not filed the affidavits of his wife and mother-in-law who were in a better position to say whether the employees of OP-2 had done any misbehaviour with them at the airport. Therefore, in the absence of their affidavits, we are not inclined to believe the version of the complainant that the employees of OP-2 had misbehaved with the two ladies passengers.
According to OP-1, all this happened because of an inadvertent procedural lapse which was beyond the control of OP-1. While saying so, the employees of OP-1 have perhaps forgotten very important fact that the said “inadvertent procedural lapse” on their part had caused uncalled for misery, agony and inconvenience to the two ladies passengers, one of whom was 70 years old. Therefore, we are not inclined to believe that it was just an inadvertent procedural lapse. On the other hand, we hold that the OP-1 committed gross deficiency in service while dealing with the case of the two ladies passengers with regard to issuance of air tickets to them.
In view of above, we allow the complaint against OP No. 1 and direct the OP No.1 to pay a amount of Rs.7070/- for additional payment paid by the Complainant for purchasing two new tickets and Rs.20,000/- as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment to the Complainant and his family members including costs of litigation.
The order shall be complied within 30 days of receipt of copy of this order failing which OP No. 1 shall become liable to pay interest @ Rs. 6% per annum on the amount of Rs.7070/- from the date of filing of the complaint till its realization.
Let a copy of this order be sent to the parties as per regulation 21 of the Consumer Protection Regulations. Thereafter file be consigned to record room.
Announced on 06.08.16.
(Naina Bakshi) (N. K. Goel)
Member President
Case No. 544/13
06.08.2016
Present – None.
Vide our separate order of even date pronounced, the complaint is allowed against OP-1. OP-1 is directed to pay a amount of Rs.7070/- for additional payment paid by the Complainant for purchasing two new tickets and Rs.20,000/- as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment to the Complainant and his family members including costs of litigation. The order shall be complied within 30 days of receipt of copy of this order failing which OP No. 1 shall become liable to pay interest @ Rs. 6% per annum on the amount of Rs.7070/- from the date of filing of the complaint till its realization. Let the file be consigned to record room.
(Naina Bakshi) (N. K. Goel)
Member President
