BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM.
KAMRUP
C.C.No. 102/16
Present: I) Shri A.F.A.Bora, M.Sc.,L.L.B.,A.J.S -President
II) Smti Archana Deka Lahkar,B.Sc.,L.L.B. -Member
III) Sri Jamatul Islam,B.Sc,Former Dy
Director, FCS & CA -Member
Shri Kunal Borkakati - Complainant
S/0 Late Amal Ch. Borkakati
House No. 1, Brindavan Nagar
Arunudoy Path,Borsojai ,Guwahati-781028,
District: Kamrup,(Metro) Assam
-vs-
I) Make My Trip India Pvt.Ltd., -Opposite party
Tower A,SP Infocity,
243,Udyog Vihar, Phase-I
II) Make My Trip India Pvt.Ltd.,
Prakash Tower, 4th Floor, Opposite Dona Planet,
ABC Bus Stop, G.S.Road
Guwahati-781005,
Appearance
Learned advocate Mr.Devojit Goswami for the complainant .
Learned advocate Shri P. Deka for the opposite parties.
Date of argument:- 22/09/2020
Date of judgment: - 12/11/2020
JUDGMENT
1) This is an application filed by Shri Kunal Borkakati u/s 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 against the opp.party - Make My Trip India Pvt.Ltd. , head office, Gurgaon, Haryana and local office,G.S.Road, Guwahati for deficiency of service on the part of the opp.party in arranging hotel accommodation for the complainant, Sri Kunal Barkakati.
2) The brief history of the complaint is that opp.party No.1 being a private limited company offers service through internet throughout the country in arranging train and flight tickets and also hotel accommodation for the customer online and opp.party No.2 is an office at Guwahati of opp.party No.1 .
3) According to the complainant, on 21.5.16 he booked a hotel room at Gangtok, Sikkim through the opp.party in their website vide hotel booking ID No. NH 710624832844 and his room was booked at Hotel Dhanishtha ,Pani House, Deorali, Gangtok, Sikkim for 6 (six) nights with effect from 28.5.16 to 2.6.16 for which he paid an amount of Rs.9,574/- through his credit card.
4) After making the payment by the complainant ,the opp.party sent an e-mail to the complainant informing him that his booking was confirmed and it was mentioned in the e-mail with details of the hotel and sent a SMS to the mobile phone of the complainant from RM-MMTRIP confirming the booking of the hotel . Thereafter, on 24.5.16 the opp.party sent an e.mail to the complainant mentioning that his booking was confirmed and on 27.5.16 opp.party again sent an SMS to the mobile phone of the complainant bearing no. 9435553848 confirming the booking of the hotels.
5) Acting upon the confirmed e-mail and SMS, complainant moved to Gangtok, Sikkim and reached there on 28.5.16 and on his arrival at the said hotel at 5 PM , the hotel authorities told him that there had been no booking in his name and the hotel authority refused to accommodate the complainant in their hotel.
6) The complainant finding himself in a awkward situation without any accommodation he called the opp.party over phone on their toll free No. The phone was answered by an automatic system and complainant was directed to navigate through system generated process for five minutes and after that the complainant was answered by a person who was asking him his name and hotel booking ID and his problem. The aforesaid person of the opp.party asked the complainant to wait for ten minutes so as to enable him to sort out his problem. The complainant waited for 30 minutes , but there was no reply, as such complainant again called the opp.party on the same toll free No. and at that time he was answered by a different person who again asked the complainant his name and hotel booking ID and problems etc. The complainant reiterated the same story and the said person again asked him for 10 minutes for waiting and again there was no reply.
7) Under the above circumstances it was around 8 p.m. a rainy evening at Gangtok and complainant without any accommodation became frustrated and requested the hotel authorities of Hotel Dhanishtha to allow him to wait in lobby. The complainant understood that his problem will not be sorted out by the opposite parties and he tried to contact other hotels and he went to Singtam , a place where one of his acquitance make arrangement for his accommodation with one of his friend at Rongpo. In that way complainant suffered a lot while going to the place namely Singtam as it was late evening at 8 p.m. and there were no public vehicles in Gangtok at that hour. Ultimately complainant while travelling to Singtam received an SMS on his mobile phone, , the said SMS was sent by opp.party which read as under, “ Hi, we tried to contact you on your phone , but were unable to reach you. Your booking is not confirmed yet. We are working on it. Please call 07961602519/18001028749 ASAP.”
8) According to the complainant after reaching at Singtam late in the night on 28.5.16 he was in a position to access his e-mail and he found that opposite party has sent an e-mail at 7:59 p.m. mentioning that his booking was not yet confirmed . A similar e-mail was again sent to the complainant at 5.06 A.M next day.
9) This way the complainant was harassed by the opp.party and for the deficiency in service of the opp.party , he had to face a lot of difficulties in his trip to Gangtok . The opp.party did not even consider it necessary to refund the amount of Rs.9,574/- which the complainant had paid for booking hotel.
10) On 14.7.16 the complainant wrote a letter to the opposite party informing all the facts demanding refund of the amount as stated aforesaid with an interest and compensation of Rs.5,00,000/- .
11) After receipt of the letter the opp.party sent an e.mail on 22.7.16 informing that his booking has been cancelled as per request of the complainant and the booking amount of Rs.9574/- had been refunded to the account of the complainant on 22.7.16 whereas complainant did not make any request for cancellation.
12) In the above circumstances it is alleged that after receiving full payment of booking charges the opp.party promised for arranging accommodation at Hotel Dhanishtha, Pani House, Deorali, Gangtok, Sikkim with effect from 28.5.16 and had failed to do so which caused suffering to the complainant and there is a deficiency of service within the meaning of Section 2(g) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
13) Accordingly complainant pray for reliefs amounting to Rs.1,00,000/- towards deficiency of service on the part of the opp.party and payment of compensation amounting to Rs.5,00,000/- for the harassment and mental agony caused to the complainant etc. The complainant further pray for an amount of Rs.50,000/- towards the cost and expenditure of litigation.
14) The opposite party after receipt of notice appeared before this Forum and filed their written statement on 14.3.18 and thereafter the complainant have filed their evidence in affidavit and opp.party remain absent without step and for failure of the opp.party to cross examine the complainant , a last chance was provided and on 27.12.18 this forum decided to heard the argument of the complainant side exparte. Accordingly the matter was pending for argument from complainant side and ultimately it was heard on 22.9.20.
15) The contesting opposite party in their written statement stated inter-alia that the opp.party No. 1 & 2 operate online to travel portal offering complete travel solution to wide range of customer having corporate office at Make My Trip, 19th Floor at Building No. 5, DLF Epitome, Cyber City, Gurgaon-122002 , Haryana. It is submitted in the written statement that opp.aprty denied the allegation contained in the complaint except those which are mentioned in the written statement. 16) The opp.party in their written statement made a preliminary objection from A to F in the written statement narrating that certain averments of the complainant as mis-conceived and baseless allegation. The opp.party stated that , the complainant booked the hotel room at Hotel Dhanishtha at Gangtok by using the website of the opp.party .But the complainant was denied by the hotel regarding receiving any booking reservation from the opp.party. The opp.party stated that, they are only online aggregator for booking tickets and not liable for operation of the hotel and the opp.party cannot be held liable for the acts of the Hotel Dhanishtha .
17) In their parawise reply, the opp.party in reply to para 3 of the complaint admitted that the complainant booked a hotel room at Hotel Dhanishtha through the website of the opp.party on 21.5.16 and paid Rs.9,574/- towards the booking.
18) The opp.party also stated in their written statement that the Hotel Dhanishtha meanwhile stopped operation and given the property in lease. (In that case opp.party should have made alternative arrangement for the complainant to avert last minute disappointment of the complainant). The opp.party insisted on impleading Hotel Dhanishtha as a party to the case.
19) The opp.party pointed out the terms and condition and stated that the complainant had agreed that under exceptional circumstances the service provider may unable to honour the confirmed bookings. (But could not furnish any documents with consent of the complainant to the agreement with terms and condition.) The opp.party further stated that, if The Make My Trip is informed in advance, they could have make effort for alternative arrangement.
20) The opp.party stated that they have refunded the full booking amount of Rs.9,574/- to the complainant under the user agreement between the complainant and the opp.party.
Points for decision:
21) To determine the dispute following issues are taken up for discussion:
i) Whether complainant was a customer of the opp. party who arranged train and flight tickets including accommodation?
ii) Whether the complainant has paid an amount of Rs.9,574/- for booking of a hotel through credit card at Dhanistha , Pani House , Deorali, Gangtok , Sikkim for 6(six) nights w.e.f. 28/05/2016 to 02/06/2016 ?
iii) Whether the opp. party have failed to provide service to the complainant as per terms & conditions assured by the opp. party ?
iv) Whether the opp. party is liable to pay compensation as well as other relief as prayed for ?
Reasons for decision:
22) We have heard ld. counsel for the complainant and after due consideration of written statement of the opp. party it appears that there is no specific denial about reservation of the hotel room by booking ID No- NH710624832844 w.e.f. 28/05/2016 and payment was made through credit card by the complainant amounting to Rs. 9,574/- which was admittedly refunded back to the complainant . We have considered the evidence of the complainant and it appears clearly that complainant was a consumer so far the services of hotel booking by the opp. party namely Make My Trip is concerned. We have perused the documents submitted by the complainant from Ext-1 to Ext-7 . The communication made by the complainant with the opp. party through his mobile phone(hard copies) are the documentary proof as to be fact alleged by the complainant . As such issue no-1 is decided in affirmative.
23) So far issue no-2 is concerned it is apparent from the discussion made above that opp. party have returned back the booking amount . The complainant in his evidence admitted that booking amount of Rs. 9,574/- was refunded to his account with a note that booking was cancelled as per request of the complainant which is denied . As such it is decided that the opp. party have refunded the booking amount and issue no-2 decided in affirmative.
24) So far issue no-3 is concerned it is found that complainant had suffered from mental agony and harassment, as after arriving at Gangtok in the hotel Dhanistha , Pani House , Deorali, Gangtok , Sikkim where he was informed by the hotel authority that there was no booking made in his name by the opp. party & hotel authority refused to accommodate him in their hotel. Here we have taken notice of the documents from Ext-1 to Ext-7 , which are enough to hold a view that there was a booking of the hotel in the name of the complainant & the opp. party had made electronic communication & Ext-3 is very clear about the booking of the hotel by the opp. party. We have also considered xt-5,6, 7 indicating the ID no. of the booking . Hence, it is proved that opp. party being a service provider have failed to discharge their duty towards the complainant as his booking was ignored & refused by the hotel concerned.
25) The communication made between the opp. party and complainant through electronic devices termed as Ext-8,10,12 ,14 & 15 are hard copies of electronic communication in which opp. party- Make My Trip admitted that his booking was not updated. If the booking was not updated by the opp. party , then what was the meaning of the communication made through Ext-5 , 6 & other related documents . It is very clear enough from the documents submitted by complainant that the opp. party was found negligent and their service was irregular & in-sufficient . The person with a confirm information about booking of the hotel went to Gangtok where his accommodation was refused and put him in trouble . The complainant made alternative arrangement at night with one of his friend at Singtam,Sikkim by travelling on private vehicle till 12 midnight. The complainant was travelling to Rangpu after refusal of his accommodation in the hotel at Gangtok and had to cover a journey by a motor bike with the assistance of an unknown person.
26) This kind of act of negligent and later on refunding of advance money to the complainant is not at all a good reasoning for insufficient service to the consumer by the opp. party . We have very much concerned about such an irresponsible act by a travel agent which is not expected and they must realize the agony & difficulty faced by the consumer for their irresponsible act.
27) In this context, we have considered the e-mail notice exhibited by the complainant as Ext-16, which discloses about the happenings in that particular evening on 28/05/16 at 5 PM with the complainant .From the time of arrival at Gangtok complainant was refused any accommodation in the hotel at Deorali, Gangtok, Sikkim & he continuously made communication with the opp. party who had in a casual manner deal with the complainant by different persons narrating the situation & the persons attending the phone calls on the booking ID of the complainant . The opp. party repeated the same negative replies without solution .
28) Then the complainant somehow managed to go to one of his friend’s place called Rangpo in that particular raining evening without having any public transportation. The complainant somehow with the help of a private person on a bike reached his friend’s place at 12 midnight. The complainant have very clearly narrated the entire episode right from booking on 21/05/2016 till 29/05/2016 with the hard copies of the documents about electronic communication made with the opp. party . His letter Ext-16 was replied by the opp. party as indicated in the Ext-17 that opp. party have offered his sincere apology for inconvenience caused to the complainant . The booking amount was refunded back to the complainant’s account with a copy of the cancellation confirmation. 29) This is not the way to deal with the consumer after the booking of a hotel and subsequently cancelling the same without consent of the complainant, is not justified . The complainant was put in trouble for such act of the opp. party & he was mentally as well as physically harassed for want of accommodation in an unknown place . Accordingly, we decided the present issue in favour of the complainant.
30) In the result issue no-4 is decided in favour of the complainant holding a view that the act of the opp. party was very casual and irresponsible. They have put in trouble a genuine customer giving all assurance of booking after receipt of money and put him in trouble in an unknown place where the complainant have to take help of unknown person for travelling on bike and have passed a day in agony and uncertainity . The mental suffering which was caused to the complainant in fact cannot be compensated in terms of money , but however we are of the view that complainant is entitled for a compensation amounting to Rs.1,00,000/- for mental agony and Rs.30,000/- for cost of proceeding . The amount awarded to be paid to the complainant within 45 days, from the date of judgment , failing which the opp. party have to pay an interest @12% per annum on the awarded amount from the date of judgment till realization.
Given our hand & seal today on 12th November, 2020.
(Smt A.D.Lahkar) (Md J.Islam) ( Shri A.F.A.Bora)
Member Member President
DCF,Kamrup DCF,Kamrup DCF,Kamrup
