Order No. 12 dt. 08/11/2016
The case of the complainant in brief is that in the month of March 2011 the complainant received a telephonic call from o.ps. and he was informed that he is a lucky winner of gift voucher of o.p. holiday club and accordingly asked him to meet the o.ps., accordingly he met the o.ps. and a meeting was held and he was convinced that he and his family would be provided with a 5 star hotel, gym facility riding sightseeing and for that reason he will have to accept the membership of o.p. club by paying Rs.80,000/-. The complainant on being satisfied with the facility to be provided by o.ps., the complainant accepted the membership and whenever the complainant was asked further for a sum of Rs.6000/- he became suspicious and asked the o.ps. why such amount is being charged to which the o.ps. could not give any satisfactory reply and the o.ps. failed to provide any service to the complainant. The complainant though paid the amount but he did not get any service from o.ps. as such the complainant prayed for return of the principal amount with interest and compensation of Rs.50,000/- and litigation cost of Rs.30,000/-.
The o.ps. contested this case by filing w/v and denied all the material allegations of the complaint. It was stated that o.p. club is the most known name in the entertainment industry and the complainant suo moto accepted the membership of the club in response to the telephonic call made by o.ps. The o.ps. informed the complainant regarding the facilities to be provided to the complainant and after realising the acts of o.ps. and the complainant after going through the terms and conditions of the membership took the membership and paid the charges. The o.ps. denied that there was any offer of gift voucher to the complainant. The complainant was informed regarding the activities of o.ps. and the complainant failed to pay the AMC to the tune of Rs.31,380/- and as such he was not provided with the facilities which the complainant ought to have received after becoming the member of the club of o.ps. The allegations made by complainant is totally false and since there is no material against the o.ps., the o.ps. prayed for dismissal of the case.
On the basis of the pleadings of parties the following points are to be decided:
- Whether the complainant paid the membership fees of Rs.80,000/-.
- Whether the complainant was misrepresented by o.p. club.
- Whether the complainant was not provided with any service as assured by o.ps.
- Whether the complainant will be entitled to get the relief as prayed for.
Decision with reasons:
All the points are taken up together for the sake of brevity and avoidance of repetition of facts.
Ld. lawyer for the complainant argued that there are numerous cases are pending before this Forum with the allegation that the o.ps. assured the public by inducing them to take the membership by alluring them to provide various accommodation free of cost and other amenities like hotel, gym etc without any charges. The o.ps. are in the habit of attracting the person by giving them false assurance that if they accept the membership they will be provided with holiday home and other benefits for their temporary stay at different places of interest. On being assured by o.ps. of such facilities the complainant took the membership but after payment of amount of Rs.80,000/- o.ps. demanded further amount to which the complainant became suspicious and wanted to know as to why the charges are being claimed by o.ps. to which the complainant was informed that the said amount is being asked for towards the AMC. Since the complainant was not aware regarding such way of squeezing money from the complainant by o.ps., he wanted to get back the amount paid by him but the complainant was not provided the amount for which the complainant had to file this case praying for reliefs.
Ld. lawyer for the o.ps. argued that the o.p. no.1 is a reputed club and the said club has various establishments at different places and many renowned persons are also members of the said club and since the complainant failed to pay the AMC he cannot claim any further service from o.ps. and for non payment of the AMC the membership of the complainant will be treated as cancelled. In view of the said fact ld. lawyer for the o.ps. argued that the complainant has filed this case without having any cogent reason whatsoever, as such, ld. lawyer prayed for dismissal of the case.
Considering the submissions of the respective parties it is an admitted fact that o.ps. admitted in the w/v that they called the complainant with the assurance that he would be given membership and he was offered gift voucher to which the complainant can have enjoyed the stay in hotels, gym facilities etc. without any charges. After enticing the complainant for enjoyment of such facilities the complainant had to take the membership by paying Rs.80,000/-. Immediately after the payment of the said amount the complainant wanted to have the facilities and the same was denied and whenever the complainant demanded to get back the money paid by him of Rs.80,000/- to which the o.ps. denied and subsequently claimed that since the complainant failed to pay the AMC charges he cannot enjoy the benefit of the facilities. On perusal of the agreement entered into between the parties it appears that the language in the said contract as well as facilities mentioned therein everybody will be attracted to get the facilities from the said club and the complainant also fell in the trap of o.ps. like other complainants who have also filed cases against this club and most of the cases the parties were allured in such manner that they would be provided with the facilities by giving accommodation and the period of enjoyment of the said facilities would be considerable period of years. But it is found from the materials on record as well as pleadings of the complainant that instead of providing those facilities like any other cases this complainant was also deceived by o.ps. and after acceptance of the money to the tune of Rs.80,000/- o.ps. failed to recognize his member i.e. the complainant. The act on the part of the o.ps. is totally a negation of the facilities as promised by o.ps. but subsequently with the demand of money further means that the o.ps. had the intention to squeeze money from the complainant, accordingly we hold that there was gross deficiency in service on the part of the o.ps. and the complainant will be entitled to get the relief as prayed for. Thus all the points are disposed of accordingly.
Hence, ordered,
That the CC NO.137/2015 is allowed on contest with cost against the o.ps. The o.ps. are jointly and/or severally directed to return a sum of Rs.80,000/- (Rupees eighty thousand) only to the complainant along with compensation of Rs.10,000/- (Rupees ten thousand) only for harassment and mental agony and litigation cost of Rs.5000/- (Rupees five thousand) only within 30 days from the date of communication of this order, i.d. an interest @ 10% p.a. shall accrue over the entire sum due to the credit of the complainant till full realization.
Supply certified copy of this order to the parties free of cost.
