Order No. 14  dt.  16/03/2020

        The case of the complainant in brief is that the complainant purchased two return tickets on 26.5.18 from Delhi to Kolkata for two persons through Cleartrip for himself and his wife by using the credit card in Jet Airways online. After purchase, o.p. no.1 sent one SMS with a text ‘Trip ID 18052676178 03 June, 2018, 02-30 Jet Airways, 963, PNR DBBTHC’ on Saturday, 26^th May, 2018. In the usual course all travel agency sent a mail followed by SMS where the PNR mention and upon showing the PNR No. the airport authority of India allowed the passenger to proceed towards the respective airlines for the collection of boarding pass. The complainant reached at Delhi Airport at 10-00 p.m. for collection and boarding pass showing the text of SMS in the mobile sent by o.p. no.1, but the security staff did not allow to enter the area of the lines wherefrom the complainant could collect the boarding pass. The complainant contacted the customer care and also outer counter of Jet Airways and requested for a print which they declined as the complainant could not furnish the PNR of the respective flight. Subsequently the complainant purchased the ticket for flying from Delhi to Kolkata and he had to incur the expenses of Rs.22,788/- and also had to stay in a hotel by paying charge of Rs.4200/-. On the basis of the said fact the complainant filed this case praying for direction upon the o.ps. to pay compensation of Rs.2 lakhs and litigation cost.

            The o.p. nos.1 and 2 contested this case by filing w/v and denied all the material allegations of the complaint. It was stated that o.p. no.1 is an online travel company which provides the intermediary facilities of booking air tickets and hotel reservation in India and abroad through its website (www.cleartrip.com) and mobile application (‘Booking Platform’). Any customer / passenger who wish to avail the services of o.p. no.1 have to make a booking on the Booking Platform. The booking of a flight ticket involves the following steps: search, selection, contact details, payment, and confirmation. The entire booking process is system driven and done online based on the entries made by the customer / passenger himself. The complainant is a registered user of o.ps’ Booking Platform having user ID pradipkumar 13B @ gmail.com. The complainant has been regularly booking his travel through the Booking Platform. It is stated that on 26.5.18 at 10-17 p.m. the complainant booked an online one-way flight through the mobile application for travel of two adults from New Delhi to Kolkata on 3.6.18. At the time of booking contact details entered by the complainant for booking were mobile no.9831755900 and e-mail ID pradipkumar 13B @ gmail.com. The o.p. company on receipt of payment of Rs.14,904/- an e-ticket generated being Trip ID 18052676178 was sent to the e-mail ID of the complainant i.e. pradipkumar 13B @ gmail.com that was provided by the complainant at the time of booking. The e-ticket is an automatic system generated e-ticket which triggers on successful booking by the customer and the printed copy of e-ticket was auto generated and triggered on 26.5.18 at 22-18 hrs. (i.e. 10-18 p.m.) to the email ID pradipkumar 13B @ gmail.com. The o.p. no.1 shared the contact details of the complainant to o.p. no.3. In view of such fact o.p. no.1 stated that there is no deficiency in service on the part of o.p. no.1. The o.p. nos.1 and 2 assisted the complainant in booking their travel as per their choice and diligent manner. On the basis of the said fact o.p. nos.1 and 2 prayed for dismissal of the case.

            In spite of receipt of notice the o.p. no.3 did not contest this case by filing w/v and as such, the case has proceeded ex parte against the o.p. no.3.

            On the basis of the pleadings of parties the following points are to be decided:

1. whether the complainant purchased the ticket from o.p. no.1 through online?
2. Whether o.p. no.1 failed to provide the e-ticket to the complainant?
3. Whether there was any deficiency in service on the part of o.ps.?
4. 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 the complainant purchased two return tickets on 26.5.18 from Delhi to Kolkata for two persons through Cleartrip for himself and his wife by using the credit card in Jet Airways online. After purchase, o.p. no.1 sent one SMS with a text ‘Trip ID 18052676178 03 June, 2018, 02-30 Jet Airways, 963, PNR DBBTHC’ on Saturday, 26^th May, 2018. In the usual course all travel agency sent a mail followed by SMS where the PNR mention and upon showing the PNR No. the airport authority of India allowed the passenger to proceed towards the respective airlines for the collection of boarding pass. The complainant reached at Delhi Airport at 10-00 p.m. for collection and boarding pass showing the text of SMS in the mobile sent by o.p. no.1, but the security staff did not allow to enter the area of the lines wherefrom the complainant could collect the boarding pass. The complainant contacted the customer care and also outer counter of Jet Airways and requested for a print which they declined as the complainant could not furnish the PNR of the respective flight. Subsequently the complainant purchased the ticket for flying from Delhi to Kolkata and he had to incur the expenses of Rs.22,788/- and also had to stay in a hotel by paying charge of Rs.4200/-. On the basis of the said fact the complainant filed this case praying for direction upon the o.ps. to pay compensation of Rs.2 lakhs and litigation cost.

            Ld. lawyer for the o.p. nos.1 and 2  argued that o.p. no.1 is an online travel company which provides the intermediary facilities of booking air tickets and hotel reservation in India and abroad through its website (www.cleartrip.com) and mobile application (‘Booking Platform’). Any customer / passenger who wish to avail the services of o.p. no.1 have to make a booking on the Booking Platform. The booking of a flight ticket involves the following steps: search, selection, contact details, payment, and confirmation. The entire booking process is system driven and done online based on the entries made by the customer / passenger himself. The complainant is a registered user of o.ps’ Booking Platform having user ID pradipkumar 13B @ gmail.com. The complainant has been regularly booking his travel through the Booking Platform. It is stated that on 26.5.18 at 10-17 p.m. the complainant booked an online one-way flight through the mobile application for travel of two adults from New Delhi to Kolkata on 3.6.18. At the time of booking contact details entered by the complainant for booking were mobile no.9831755900 and e-mail ID pradipkumar 13B @ gmail.com. The o.p. company on receipt of payment of Rs.14,904/- an e-ticket generated being Trip ID 18052676178 was sent to the e-mail ID of the complainant i.e. pradipkumar 13B @ gmail.com that was provided by the complainant at the time of booking. The e-ticket is an automatic system generated e-ticket which triggers on successful booking by the customer and the printed copy of e-ticket was auto generated and triggered on 26.5.18 at 22-18 hrs. (i.e. 10-18 p.m.) to the email ID pradipkumar 13B @ gmail.com. The o.p. no.1 shared the contact details of the complainant to o.p. no.3. In view of such fact o.p. no.1 stated that there is no deficiency in service on the part of o.p. no.1. The o.p. nos.1 and 2 assisted the complainant in booking their travel as per their choice and diligent manner. On the basis of the said fact o.p. nos.1 and 2 prayed for dismissal of the case.

            Considering the submissions of the respective parties it is an admitted fact that the complainant for the purpose of availing the service of o.p. no.1 purchased the air tickets and paid the amount through  credit card. The o.p. no.1 provided the message to the complainant on 26.5.18 and it has been alleged by the complainant that in the message o.p. no.1 only provided the trip ID and the date of journey was mentioned along with PNR No.  but the name of the complainant was not mentioned and the e-ticket was not provided to the complainant which has been disputed by o.p. nos.1 and 2. The o.p. nos.1 and 2 in their w/v as well as evidence categorically stated that they sent the e-ticket through the email provided by the complainant. It appears from the materials on record that the complainant earlier used the services of o.p.  no.1 and his mail ID was also recorded and as per the instruction of the complainant e-ticket was provided to the complainant through his email. The complainant has emphasized that his name was not mentioned in the message and e-ticket was not provided. In order to substantiate his claim, the complainant could not produce any printed copy of the email which he received during the said period. Apart from the said fact, it appears that the message was provided to the complainant, which has also been admitted by the complainant that the same was received on 26.5.18, but the date of journey was fixed on 3.6.18. The complainant could have brought to the notice of o.p. no.1 as to why the name in the message which was sent to the complainant was not mentioned.  The o.p. no.1 in their w/v annexed the e-ticket wherefrom it is evident that the same was sent to the complainant through his email. The o.p. no.1 has annexed the e-ticket being annex-1. From the said e-ticket it appears that the Trip ID 18052676178 tallied with the message received by the complainant which has been annexed by the complainant in his petition of complaint. Thereby the complainant was fully aware regarding the Trip ID No. as well as PNR No. and the date of journey and the time. The complainant has denied that he did not receive the e-ticket, but it appears from the said e-ticket that the schedule time for journey was at 02-30 hrs. and the flight would have reached at 04-40 hrs. at Kolkata Airport. The o.p. nos.1 and 2 in order to get clarification from the complainant regarding the said email specifically put a question to the complainant in question no.5: Whether the complainant was in receipt of an e-ticket bearing Trip ID 18052676178 on 26.5.18 at 22-18 hrs. i.e. 10-18 p.m. on the email ID of the complainant provided by the complainant at the time of booking? In reply to the said question the complainant said that I do hereby admit the fact as stated under para 6 of the questionnaire and he evaded the categorical reply in respect of the said questionnaire put by o.ps. Therefore we hold that the complainant has suppressed the material fact and he also failed to produce message received by him through his email during the said period wherefrom it could have evident that noi email was received by him from o.p. nos.1 dn 2. The complainant has suppressed the material fact and in order to have monetary gain the complainant has falsely filed this case against the o.ps. In view of the facts and circumstances as stated above, we hold that the complainant has failed to make out any case against the o.ps. regarding deficiency in service on the part of o.ps. and accordingly the complainant will not be entitled to get any relief as prayed for. Thus, all the points are disposed of accordingly.

            Hence, ordered,

            That the CC No.104/2019 is dismissed on contest without cost against the o.ps.