Punjab

Ludhiana

CC/14/437

Mr.Rajvinder - Complainant(s)

Versus

Garwal Mandal Vikas nigam Ltd - Opp.Party(s)

21 Jan 2015

ORDER

BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, LUDHIANA.

                                                          C.C. No.547 of 13.09.2007             

                                                          RBT No.437 of 09.06.2014

                                                         Date of Decision: 21.01.2014

Mr.Rajinder Pasricha, Sr. Vice President, Avon Cycles Limited, G.T. Road, Ludhiana.                                                                                                                                                                                      … Complainant.

                                             Versus

1.Garwal Mandal, Vikas Nigam Limited, 74/1, Rajpur Road, Dheradun    through its General Manager.    

2.Mr. D.S. Panwar (AGM)(Tourism) Garwal Mandal, Vikas Nigam Limited,     Yatra Office, Rishikesh.   

3.Garwal Mandal, Vikas Nigam Limited, Haridwar through its Manager.     

                                                                                       …Opposite Parties

          Complaint under section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act,1986.

 

Quorum     Sh.R.L.Ahuja, President

                   Sh.Sat Paul Garg, Member. 

                  

Present       Sh.Vikesh Jhamb, Adv. for complainant.

Ops ex-parte.

                                                ORDER

R.L. AHUJA, PRESIDENT

1.                Earlier, the present complaint bearing No.547 dated 13.09.2007 was filed by the complainant before this Fora, which was decided on 17.12.2008. Against the said order, an Appeal No.113 of 2009 was filed by the complainant before the Hon’ble State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Punjab, Chandigarh, which was decided by the Hon’ble State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Punjab, Chandigarh on 03.04.2014, vide which,  the appeal filed by the complainant was accepted and the impugned order dated 17.12.2008 passed by this District Forum has been set-aside and the complaint has been remanded back to this District Forum with a direction to afford the partiers opportunity and then decide the complaint on merits. Pursuant to which, the present complaint has been re-registered.

2.                In brief, the facts of the present complaint are that the complainant had availed the service of Ops for staying at Haridwar and accordingly, he had booked two nights on 17.9.2006 and 18.9.2006 at Haridwar through on line booking system by paying Rs.7260/- through credit card transaction no.1100000776, receipt no.06090421846, which was duly acknowledged by Ops. The complainant had reached Haridwar but rooms shown by the OPs officers, smelled musty and were different than showed on line web site system. Immediately, the complainant had told the concerned manager of Ops to arrange another accommodation, who told that the hotel and restaurant is under repair and the complainant would have to bear with them. Thereafter, on request of the complainant, Ops had shifted the complainant from Haridwar to another hotel, which was at a distance of 24 kms from there. Consequently, the complainant claimed refund of his money so deposited with the Ops and the concerned officer of OPs assured to refund the same and on suggestion of the officer of OPs, the complainant had deposited Rs.11,340/- for accommodation in Ganga Resorts. After staying there for two days, the complainant had requested the OPs repeatedly to refund Rs.7260/- but no refund was made. Even the complainant sought refund of his money through mail and sent requisite documents to the OPs, but with no result. So, the complainant had got served a registered notice dated 14.7.2007 on the Ops with the request to make refund of Rs.7260/- within 7 days. Ops vide reply dated 18.7.2007 demanded  the detail of booking dates and relevant documents of his on line booking, which were duly sent to them through Yahoo mail and after considering the same, the Ops refused to refund the amount through mail dated 4.8.2007. Such act and conduct of Ops is claimed to be deficiency in service on their part. Hence, by filing the present complaint, the complainant has prayed that Ops be directed to pay Rs.7260/- to the complainant and Rs.50,000/- as compensation on account of loss suffered by the complainant due to deficiency in service on the part of Ops and other benefits to the complainant.

3.                Earlier, upon notice of the complainant, Ops were duly served and appeared through their counsel and filed their written statement, in which, it has been submitted in the preliminary objections that this Hon’ble Forum has no jurisdiction to hear and decide the present case as provided u/s 11 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 as the answering Ops are not having any office at Ludhiana. Otherwise also as provided/mentioned in the terms and conditions governing the booking, the complaint if any was to be filed at Dehradun and if any dispute/claim or legal proceedings between pilgrims/tourists and the Nigam shall be subject to jurisdiction to the Court of District Dehradun. Even otherwise, the amount shall be refunded to pilgrims/tourists on seeking cancellation as under:-

          15 or more days before             90% refund of total amount.

          8 to 14 days before                   75% refund of total amount.

          4 to 7 days before                     50% refund of total amount.

          3 days before                            No refund.

Reply on facts, it has been submitted that the complainant had booked two AC rooms for staying at Haridwar in Rahi Motel on 17.9.2006 and 18.9.2006, but he did not turn up on the said dates in order to stay there. Rather, the complainant himself went to Ganga Resort in Rishikesh and wanted to get the amount adjusted, which he paid regarding booking of two rooms for two days in Rahi Motel, Haridwar. In fact, no repair/renovation was going in Rahi Motel. There are total 14 AC rooms in Rahi Motel and out of which, 13 AC rooms were lying unoccupied and one room was occupied on the said dates. As such, no assurance to refund the amount was given to the complainant nor the refund could be made as he had not got cancelled the booking of Rahi Motel, Haridwar as per rules. So, there is no deficiency in service on the part of the opposite parties. At the end, all the other allegations of the complainant made in the complaint are denied being wrong and incorrect and answering Ops made prayer for dismissal of the complaint with costs.

4.                Earlier both the parties had adduced their evidence in support of their case and pleadings alongwith affidavits and documents and thereafter, after hearing the arguments of the learned counsel for the parties, the case was decided by this Forum vide order dated 17.12.2008 and the complaint was returned to the complainant for presentation before the appropriate Forum and thereafter, complainant had filed an Appeal No.113 of 2009 before the Hon’ble State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Punjab, Chandigarh, which was decided by the Hon’ble State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Punjab, Chandigarh vide order dated 03.04.2014, vide which,  the appeal filed by the complainant was accepted and the impugned order dated 17.12.2008 passed by this District Forum had been set-aside and the complaint has been remanded back to this District Forum with a direction to afford the partiers opportunity and then decide the complaint on merits and parties through counsel were directed to appear before this District Forum on 5.6.2014. Pursuant to which, the present complaint has been re-registered and notices were issued to the complainant and Ops for 10.7.2014 and on 10.7.2014, Sh.Vikas Jhamb, Advocate had appeared on behalf of the complainant, whereas, despite sending notices to the Ops on various dates, Ops failed to appear and thereafter, notices to Ops were sent through registered post on 7.11.2014, but the same were not received back and as such, after expiry of 30 days of period, Ops were proceeded against ex-parte vide order dt.10.12.2014 of this Forum. 

5.                Thereafter, learned counsel for the complainant has suffered statement that he has already tendered the affidavit into evidence as Ex.CW1/A alongwith documents Ex.P1 to Ex.P10 on 10.4.2008, which may kindly be read the evidence of complainant and he does not want to tender any more evidence and closed the same vide statement dated 20.01.2015.

6.                We have heard the learned counsel for the complainant and have perused the documents on record very carefully.

7.                Perusal of the record reveals that learned counsel for the complainant has placed on record affidavit of complainant as Ex.CW1/A, in which, he has reiterated all the allegations made by him in the complaint. Further, learned counsel for the complainant has placed on record the documents Ex.P1 copy of credit card statement of HSBC Bank showing the transaction details and making of payments in respect of account of the Ops, Ex.P2 copy of cash memo issued by Ops in the name of the complainant qua receiving of Rs.11,340/- on 199.2006, Ex.P3 to Ex.P5 copies of email executed between the complainant and Ops, Ex.P6 copy of legal notice dated 14.7.2007 issued by the complainant through his counsel to the Ops, Ex.P7 copy of reply dated 18.7.2007 sent by the Ops to the complainant and Ex.P8 to Ex.P10 copies of postal receipts.

8.                Since, the evidence adduced by the complainant goes un-challenged and unrebutted as the Ops did not put their appearance and were proceeded against ex-parte.

9.                From the allegations of the complainant as well as the evidence on record, it is apparently clear that the complainant had got hired the service of Ops for staying at Haridwar and he had booked room for two nights on 17.9.2006 and 18.9.2006 at Haridwar through on line booking system by paying Rs.7260/- through credit card transaction no.1100000776, receipt no.06090421846, which was duly acknowledged by Ops which fact is clearly established from document Ex.P1. Further, there are allegations of the complainant that he had reached Haridwar but rooms shown by the OPs officers, were giving smell and musty and were different than showed on line web site system and the complainant had told the concerned manager of Ops to arrange another accommodation, who told that the hotel and restaurant is under repair and the complainant would have to bear with them. Further, there are allegations that thereafter, on request of the complainant, the Ops had shifted the complainant from Haridwar to another hotel, which was at a distance of 24 kms from there and when the complainant had claimed refund of his money so deposited with the Ops, the concerned officer of OPs had assured to refund the same and on suggestion of the officer of OPs, the complainant had deposited Rs.11,340/- for accommodation in Ganga Resorts. After staying there for two days, the complainant had requested the OPs repeatedly to refund Rs.7260/- but no refund was made. Even the complainant sought refund of his money through e-mail and sent requisite documents to the Ops, copies of the same are placed on record as Ex.P3 to Ex.P5, but despite that Ops have failed to refund the amount to the complainant. As such, the Ops are proved to be deficient in rendering proper services to the complainant. As such, the complaint deserves to be allowed and the complainant is also entitled for the compensation.

10.              In view of the above discussion, by allowing this complaint, we hereby direct the OPs to make refund of Rs.7260/- to the complainant and further, Ops are directed to pay Rs.7000/-(Seven thousand only) as compensation on account of mental pain, agony and harassment suffered by the complainant and Rs.3000/-(Three thousand only) as litigation expenses to the complainant. Order be complied within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order. Copies of the order be sent to the parties free of cost and thereafter, file be consigned to the record room.

 

                 (Sat Paul Garg)      (R.L.Ahuja)

                 Member               President 

Announced in Open Forum.

Dated:21.01.2015

Gurpreet Sharma