DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM-II
Udyog Sadan, C-22 & 23, Qutub Institutional Area
(Behind Qutub Hotel), New Delhi-110016.
Case No.658/2007
Sh. Rajinder Kr. Goel
S/o Sh. K. L. Goel
R/o B-2/48-C, Keshav Puram
Delhi-110035 ….Complainant
Versus
M/s Make My Trip. Com
81/1, Ground Floor,
Ganga Plaza, Adhchini
New Delhi-110016 ……Opposite Party
Date of Institution : 30.05.07 Date of Order : 12 .07.16
Coram:
Sh. N.K. Goel, President
Ms. Naina Bakshi, Member
O R D E R
Briefly stated, the case of the Complainant is that the Complainant had booked an air ticket through OP for his old age mother-in-law Smt. Vinod Agarwal vide reservation No.30GUKU on 07.12.2006 in Air Sahara Flight from Delhi to Nagpur for 07.02.2007. The booking was taken two month in advance as his mother-in-law was to attend the 1st death anniversary of her parent on 07.02.07 in Nagpur. He paid Rs.3910/- for the said trip through his credit card number 5546197042578017 and the money was transferred in the account of OP on the same day. On 07.02.2007 when his mother-in-law reported for boarding at the Indira Gandhi Airport, New Delhi she came to know that no ticket was booked in her name. He telephonically contacted the OP whereby one of the staff of OP Ms. Jaya Tomar told him that the OP had not received any amount and hence reservation was not made by the OP. When he faxed the statement of his Credit Card to the OP, the OP promised to book another ticket for the next day i.e. 08.02.2007. He sent a legal notice dated 20.02.2007 to the OP which was replied by email dated 09.03.2007 wherein the OP admitted its fault and negligence. Due to the act of omission and commission, the mother-in-law of the Complainant could not attend the 1st death anniversary of her parent which caused mental agony and physical harassment to her. Hence, pleading deficiency in service on the part of OP, the complaint has been filed with the following prayers:-
- Direct the OP to pay a sum of Rs.5 lacs to the Complainant as damages on account of mental pain, torture and agony suffered by the Complainant.
OP in the written statement has inter-alia stated that the Complainant had made the online booking through the website and instructed his Credit Card bankers to remit the payment against the said booking but no intimation was received by them from the Credit Card Banker and hence they did not issue the ticket. When the Complainant furnished the copy of the statement of his Credit Card, then the OP issued the Air ticket to the Complainant at the agreed rate for the very next day. It is, however, stated as under:-
“2……it was clearly stipulated in the travel itinerary of the Complainant (Annexure-C to the Complaint) that the Complainant must “re-confirm the reservation 72 hrs. prior to the departure”, which was not followed by the Complainant and was a default on his part.”
Hence, it is stated as under:-
“4……However, the situation could not have occurred if the Complainant would have re-confirmed the reservation 72 hrs. prior to the departure.”
It is further stated as under:-
“3……No objection or reservation of rights was rights was made by the Complainant at that time of accepting the alterative flight offered by the Opposite Party and as such, no claim could survive thereafter. The Complainant had thus waived his rights to raise any further claim against the Opposite Party……….”
The Complainant is legally not entitled to any damage as he has not proved that he had suffered any loss. Hence, there is no deficiency in service on part of OP. OP has prayed for dismissal of the complaint.
Complainant has filed rejoinder to the written statement of OP reiterating the averments made in the complaint.
Complainant has filed his own affidavit in evidence while affidavit of Sh. Manish Saxena, Dy. Manager has been filed in evidence on behalf of the OP.
Written arguments have been filed by both the parties.
We have heard the arguments on behalf of the Complainant and have also gone through the file very carefully.
It is not in dispute that the Complainant had booked a ticket for his mother-in-law from Delhi to Nagpur on 07.12.2006 of Air Sahara booked through OP for the journey to be performed on 07.02.07 which was confirmed by the OP (copy Annexure-A). Status of the ticket has been shown as “confirmed” in the travels itinerary issued on 07.12.06 by the OP. It is not mentioned in the itinerary that the passenger had to re-confirm the reservation at least 72 hrs. prior to the departure. The Complainant made the payment of Rs.3910/- to the OP through his Credit Card (copy Annexure-B). When the Complainant’s mother-in-law reached the Airport, she found that the ticket was not confirmed. Air Sahara made the following remarks on the travel itinerary of the passenger/traveller “ No E-TKT issued for 7th Feb DEL-NA 616184 Make My Trip.Com.” It is Ann-C. It is only in Annex-C that it is mentioned “ Please reconfirm your return reservation 72 hrs. prior to dep.” Thus, reconfirmation is advised for return journey. OP has thus taken a patently wrong and non-maintainable plea which is not at all fair and is quite disgusting. The Complainant sent an email on 07.02.2007 to the OP (copy annexure-D). The OP issued another ticket for Complainant’s mother-in-law for 08.02.2007. The Complainant sent a legal notice dated 20.02.07 to the OP and the OP replied the same vide email dated 09.03.2007 [Copy Annexure-F (Colly)] wherein the OP had admitted negligence and stated that “ First and foremost kindly accept my apologies for the inconvenience caused to you due to the technical error at our end. I do realize that such apologies mean very little if not followed by action towards improvement. We are currently implementing enhancements to our website towards elimination of such unpleasant instances. As per the records based on the next flight availability we booked the flight for 8 Feb (as soon as we received the credit card statement) and ensured customer could fly. Because of this serious oversight, and as a testament to our appreciation of you as our customer, you would get a discount of 10% in the next booking with us.”
In view of the above it is quite clear that the OP had admitted its negligence and filed an apology for the inconvenience caused to Complainant and her mother-in-law due to their negligence. The OP had also offered 10% discount in the next booking. Hence, it is proved that OP was negligent and accepted the same by email dated 09.03.2007. The mother-in-law of the Complainant had to attend the 1st death anniversary of her parent which was a very delicate, sentimental and social occasion for her mother-in-law. Because of the negligence of the OP she could not attend the death anniversary which must have certainly hurt her sentiments and damaged her social image. Therefore, it is proved that there is a deficiency in service on the part of OP.
We allow the complaint and direct the OP to pay a lumpsum compensation of Rs.50,000/- (Rupees fifty thousand only) to the Complainant towards mental agony and tension caused to the Complainant and his mother-in-law.
The order shall be complied within 30 days of receipt of copy of this order failing which OP shall become liable to pay interest @ Rs. 6% per annum on the amount of Rs. 50,000/- 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.
(Naina Bakshi) (N. K. Goel)
Member President
Announced on 12.07.16.
