Haryana

Panchkula

CC/305/2016

ANIL KUMAR JINDAL - Complainant(s)

Versus

MAKE MY TRIP PVT.LTD - Opp.Party(s)

COMPLAINANT IN PERSON.

05 May 2017

ORDER

BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM,  PANCHKULA.             

                                                                  

Consumer Complaint No	:	305 of 2016
Date of Institution	:	10.11.2016
Date of Decision	:	05.05.2017

                                                                                          

Anil Kumar Jindal, R/o H.No.820, Sector-2, Panchkula.

 

                                                                                        ….Complainant

Versus

 

1.       Make My Trip Pvt. Ltd., Tower A, SPInfocity, 243, Udyog Vihar, Phase-1, Guraon, Haryana-122016.

2.       China Southern Airlines, 12^th Floor, Gopal Dass Bhawan, 28, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi-110001.

                                                                                        ….Opposite Parties

 

COMPLAINT UNDER SEC. 12 OF THE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT, 1986.

 

Before:                 Mr.Dharam Pal, President.

Mrs.Anita Kapoor, Member.

Mr.Jagmohan Singh, Member.

 

For the Parties:     Mr.Amit Sharma, Adv., for the complainant.

                             Mr.Naveen Sharma, Adv., for the OP No.1.

Op NO.2 already ex-parte.

 

ORDER

(Dharam Pal, President)

1. The complainant has filed this complaint against the Ops with the averments that he booked an international Air ticket online on 01.09.2016 for China Southern Airlines through Make My Trip site having MMT ID NO.2302417223044 from New Delhi to Guangzhou and the payment was made through his credit card No.5522605000237861 of HDFC Bank & due amount of Rs.86598/- was paid from S/B a/c No.00611000080910 HDFC Bank, Sec-11, Panchkula. The ticket was booked for the passengers namely Megha Jindal, Manju Jindal and Anil Jindal for an amount of Rs.86,598/-, break up of fare was base fare Rs.45,300/- and charges like tax etc. Rs41,298/-. At the time of applying VISA for China, it came to the notice of the complainant that middle name of Manju Jindal and Anil Jindal was missing inadvertently. The complainant requested the OP No.1 vide his reference NO.160914-066181 dated 14.09.2016 (Annexure C-10) to get the minor correction in the name of Manju Bala Jindal and Anil Kumar Jindal done from OP NO.2 but the Ops No.1 and 2 refused to accept the request of the complainant. On this, the complainant asked them to cancel the ticket as they could not do correction which was cancelled thereafter and re-book the same with the same airline through cleartrip vide ID No.16091430398 on 15.092016 by spending extra money of Rs.55,226/- and its PNR number was MLJQ269. The Op No.1 only refunded the amount of Rs.3528/- out of total amount of Rs.56632/- for the cancellation ticket as per ID No.IN1609R6S1767794 on 17.09.2016 but the complainant refused to accept the same and he requested the Op No.1 many times on 17.09.2016, 18.09.2016, 19.09.2016 and 20.09.2016 to refund the whole amount of Rs.56,632/- but to no avail. Thereafter, the Op No.1 offered the complainant another amount of Rs.6260/- on 25.09.2016 but he declined to accept the same as it was too short of full amount. The relevant portion of the policy issued by Ops vide circular No.23/16/2016-AED dated 12.07.2016 w.e.f. 01.08.2016 is as under:-

“The airlines shall refund all statutory taxes and user development fee (UDF)/ airport Development Fee (ADF)/ Passenger Service Fee (PSF) to the passenger in case of cancellation/ non utilization of tickets / no show. This provision shall also be applicable for all types of fares offered including promos /special fares and where the basic fare is non-refundable.”

“Airline shall not levy any additional charge for correction in name of the same person, when error in his name spelling is pointed out by the passenger to the airline after booking of his ticket.”

This act of the opposite parties amounts to deficiency in service on their part. Hence, this complaint.

2. The Op No.1 appeared before this Forum and filed written statement by taking some preliminary objection and submitted that as per jurisdiction clause of the User Agreement, only the NCR Delhi has the territorial jurisdiction to entertain the disputes, if any, arising out of the booking. It is submitted that the relevant extract of the terms and conditions is as under:-

“JURISDICTION

MMT hereby expressly disclaims any implied warranties imputed by the laws of any jurisdiction or country other than those where it is operating its offices. MMT considers itself and intends to be subject to the jurisdiction only of the courts of NCR of Delhi, India.”

It is submitted that the booking were done online through the Op No.1 for the sector Delhi-Guangzhou-Delhi in China Southern Airlines i.e. OP No.2. It is submitted that the Op No.1 is a private limited company duly incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956. The OP No.1 is a well reputed and highly acclaimed Tour and Travel Company having its offices in New Delhi, Mumbai Kolkata, Banglore, Ahmadabad and Gurgaon and branch office in New York (USA). It is submitted that the complainant is governed by the website’s User Agreement applicable to the person intending to purchase or inquiring for any products and /or services of OP NO.1 by using OP NO.1 website or using any other customer interface channels of OP NO.1. It is submitted that on 01.09.2016, the complainant booked 3 Air Tickets for Delhi-Guangzhou-Delhi sector in China Southern Airline scheduled to depart on 31.10.2016 from Delhi to Guangzhou. It is submitted that the Op No.1 has duly discharged its duty by generating the confirmed air tickets for complainant as per the entries filled in by the complainant himself at the time of making the booking and issuing the confirmed air tickets within 10 minutes of making the booking online.  It is submitted that the complainant himself noticed that the middle name of Manju Jindal and Anil Jindal was missing and the same was a fault of the complainant himself and the Op No.1 was not liable to the same. It is submitted that the complainant approached the OP No.1 for name change in the confirmed air ticket which was denied by the Op No.1 and the complainant asked to cancel the tickets for having incorrect names mentioned on the tickets. It is submitted that after 13 days from the issuance of air tickets, the complainant contacted the Op NO.1 for the change/alteration in the air tickets. The Op No.1 contacted the Op No.2 for correction in names in the air tickets as it was not in the hands of OP NO.1, however, the OP No.2 denied for the same which was also informed to the complainant. Accordingly, the complainant cancelled the air tickets issued for Manju Jindal and Anil Jindal and made fresh booking. It is submitted that the complainant was not entitled for the refund amount other than certain taxes. The refund of all the taxes was not possible in accordance with the air fare rules. It is submitted that an amount of Rs.9,725/- had been duly refunded to the complainant in the same account through which the payment was made. It is submitted that the policy issued vide circular No.23/16/2016-AED dated 12.07.2016 was applicable in case of international bookings. Thus, there is no deficiency in service on the part of the OP No.1 and prayed for dismissal of complaint.

3. Notice was issued to the Op No.2 through registered post. But none has appeared on behalf of the Op No.2, it is deemed to be served. The Op No.2 was proceeded against ex-parte vide order dated 23.12.2016.
4. Replication to the written statement has been filed by the counsel for the complainant.
5. The counsel for the complainant has tendered the evidence by way of affidavit Annexure C-A alongwith documents Annexure C-1 to C-26 and closed the evidence. On the other hand, counsel for the OP NO.1 has tendered the evidence by way of affidavit Annexure R1/A alongwith documents Annexure R1/1 & R1/2 and closed the evidence.
6. We have heard learned counsel for the complainant & Op No.1 and have also perused the record.
7. Admittedly, the complainant booked international Air tickets online on 01.09.2016 for Megha Jindal, Manju Jindal and Anil Jindal for an amount of Rs.86,598/-, break up of fare was base fare Rs.45,300/- and charges like tax etc. Rs.41,298/- for China Southern Airlines through Make My Trip site from New Delhi to Guangzhou. The payment was made through his credit card No.5522605000237861 of HDFC Bank & due amount of Rs.86,598/- was paid from S/B a/c No.00611000080910 HDFC Bank, Sec-11, Panchkula. At the time of applying VISA for China, the complainant noticed that middle name of Manju Jindal and Anil Jindal was missing inadvertently. The complainant requested the OP No.1 to get the minor correction in the name of Manju Bala Jindal and Anil Kumar Jindal done by OP NO.2 vide his reference NO.160914-066181 dated 14.09.2016 (Annexure C-10) but the they refused to accept the request of the complainant and thereafter, on the advice of OP No.1, the complainant got cancelled the ticket and re-booked the same with the same airline through cleartrip vide ID No.16091430398 on 15.092016 by spending extra money of Rs.55,226/-. The grievance of the complainant is that on asking for refund, the Op No.1 only refunded an amount of Rs.3528/- out of total amount of Rs.56,632/-, therefore, he refused to accept the same and requested the Op No.1 to refund the whole amount of Rs.56,632/- but thereafter, the Op No.1 offered another amount of Rs.6,260/- only.
8. On the other hand, the Op No.1 has taken the plea that the complainant is not entitled for the refund amount other than certain taxes. The refund of all the taxes is not possible as per air fare rules. The circular dated 12.07.2016 mentioned by the complainant in his complaint is not applicable in case of international bookings.
9. At the very outset, there is one question before us is as whether the complainant is entitled for the refund of amount of international booking or not.
10. The complainant has filed a circular dated 01.08.2016 (Annexure C-26) issued by the Ops clearly mentioned that:

“This CAR prescribes minimum requirements for refund of ticket purchased by persons/passengers with respect to air transport undertakings including scheduled domestic/non-scheduled operators/foreign carriers operating to/from India”.

11. Thereafter again in para 3 (j)        of the circular dated 01.08.2016 specifically mentioned that

“Foreign carriers operating to/from India shall refund the tickets in accordance with regulations of their country of origin. The mode of refund shall be accordance with para 3 (a), (b) & (c) of this CAR.”

12. From the above, it is clear that the plea taken by the Op No.1 that the refund of amount other than certain taxes in case of international booking is not maintainable.
13.  Moreover, the OP No.2 did not appear to contest the claim of the complainant and preferred to proceed against ex-parte, which draws an adverse inference against it. The non-appearance of the Op No.2 despite notice shows that it has nothing to say in its defence or against the allegations made by the complainant. Therefore, the assertions made by the complainant go unrebutted and uncontroverted.
14. In view of the above discussion, we are of the view that the present complaint deserves to be allowed and the same is hereby allowed accordingly. The Ops are jointly and severally directed as under:-

(i)      To refund all statutory taxes/UDF/ADF/PSF to the complainant charged from him at the time of booking of tickets from the cancelled tickets.

(ii)     To pay an amount of Rs.10,000/- as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment to the complainant.

(iii)    To pay an amount of Rs.5,000/- as cost of litigation to the complainant.

15. Let the order be complied with within the period of 30 days from the receipt of certified copy of this order. A copy of this order be sent to the parties free of costs and file be consigned to the record room after due compliance.

 

 

Announced

05.05.2017 JAGMOHAN SINGH     ANITA KAPOOR    DHARAM PAL

                    MEMBER                      MEMBER               PRESIDENT

 

Note: Each and every page of this order has been duly signed by me.

 

                                          

                                                         DHARAM PAL

                                                          PRESIDENT