3. Further, according to plan, complainant with their two children started journey by their own car Karnal to Dalhousie and reached the Dalhousie at about 7.00 p.m. on 20th June, 2018, since complainant had no proper address of the Hotel, so he enquired about the Hotel and came to know that the Hotel Royal Residency is located near Gandhi Chowk, Dalhousie. It is pertinent to mention here that when complainant reached at Dalhousie, the drizzling was there and weather became cold. At about 7.30 p.m. complainant with their family reached at Hotel near Gandhi Chowk, Dalhousie, HP, but the name of the Hotel was Royal Regency not the Royal Residency, then complainant again enquired about the Hotel and came to know that Hotel Royal Residency is located at Khajjiar, which situates about 24 KM far from Dalhousie, then after best efforts, complainant had obtained the phone number of Hotel Royal residency i.e. 9816007999and enquired about their Hotel Booking and also sent whatsApp as well as SMS on that number, the confirmation of booking which received by complainant from OP no.1. After thorough enquiry, the owner/Manager of the said Hotel has told to complainant that he having no booking with him of complainant and the Hotel, which was booked by complainant namely Royal Residency is located at Ooty, Tamlil Nadu. Complainant got upset and worried about the Hotel Booking and having with no alternative book their room in the Hotel Royal Regency near Gandhi Chowk, Dalhousie, HP, where they were standing that time and paid Rs.20,000/- for two nights i.e. 20.06.2018 and 21.06.2018. The Manager of the said Hotel had given one mobile number of one Shri Amit who is state head of Make My Trip of Himachal Pradesh as stated to the complainant. Then on 20.06.2018 complainant had called him up and narrated the entire difficulties faced by complainant and he assured to do something and could cancel their booking from Ooty Hotel and to refund the paid amount of Rs.10,620/- to complainant. Since 20.06.2018 to 23.06.2018 certain calls as well as SMS were got exchanged between complainant and said Amit, but with no result. Moreover, in between complainant had also tried to make their request on Toll Free no.9118001028747 of Make My Trip, but that number shows invalid. So, complainant were not able to contact with make my trip anyway or manner, but the cancellation request of Hotel Booking has been forwarded by the said Amit to the team of Make My Trip and in this regard, the said Amit had also forwarded the SMS to complainant.
4. Further, the complainant came back at their home on 23.06.2018, but during that period they suffered lots of mental pain, agony and could not enjoy their trip. On 23.06.2018 the complainant had searched the alternative number of OPs, which was found and accordingly called them and narrated the entire grievance to them, but even they refused to help him out of complainant and refused to repay the booking amount of Rs.10,620/- which was quite illegal, arbitrary, which shows the malafide intention of OPs. Then complainant sent a legal notice dated 25.06.2018 to the OPs in this regard but it also did not yield any result. In this way there was deficiency in service on the part of the OPs. Hence complainant filed the present complaint.
5. Notice of the complaint was given to the OPs, OP no.1 appeared and filed written version stating therein that the OP confirmed the booking of complainant for Royal Residency, Ooty instead of Royal Residency, Dalhousie are false and the same are denied. In this regard, it is submitted that the complainant on 19.06.2018 placed a request on the official portal of OP to book one room at Hotel Royal Residency, Ooty from 20.06.2018 to 23.06.2018 by paying an amount of Rs.10,620/- and accordingly, the OP no.1 confirmed the booking, vide booking ID NH7123283400016 and subsequently forwarded the booking details at the e.mail ID and contact number provided by the complainant at the time of making their request. It is pertinent to mention here that the complainant also inserted wrong email IDs at the time of confirming the bookings, therefore, the complainant could not receive the hotel voucher on e.mail. It is further submitted that the complainants made the booking in question on 19.06.2018 at 20.01 hours and SMS was sent on 20.06.2018 at 00.21 hours and due to technical limitations, only booking ID, Hotel name and travel dates were mentioned in the confirmation message.
6. Further, complainant himself made the booking for wrong city i.e. Ooty instead of Dalhousie and it may not be left without mentioning that the complainant did not approach the OP no.1 before or on check-in-date with regard to their concern, otherwise OP no.1 would have taken certain measures to arrange an alternate accommodation. It is pertinent to mention here that despite the above, the OP no.1 contacted the original booked hotel for refund but the complainants were no show on the particular booking, therefore, the Hotelier denied to process any refund. It is further stated that a detail confirmation voucher was also shared with the complainant through SMS and email on 19th late night i.e. a day before the date of check-in 20th June, 2018. Hence, it is amply clear that the OP no.1 provides services in a diligent and efficient manner. It is only the confirmation voucher and SMS was sent with a little delay i.e. 5-6 hours as complainant made booking on 19th June, 2018 at 7.38 p.m. and confirmation voucher and SMS was sent on 19th June, 2018 late night i.e. 20th June, 2018 at 12.21 a.m. and due to technical limitation, only booking ID, name and travel dates were mentioned in the confirmation message. Hence there is no deficiency in service on the part of the OP no.1. The other allegations made in the complaint have been denied and prayed for dismissal of the complaint.
7. OP no.2 did not appear and proceeded against exparte by the order of this Forum dated 28.11.2018.
8. Complainant tendered into evidence his affidavit Ex.C1 and documents Ex.C2 to Ex.C12 and closed the evidence on 25.03.2019.
9. On the other hand, OP no.1 tendered into evidence affidavit of Ekank Mehra Ex.RW1/A and documents Ex.R1 and Ex.R2 and closed the evidence on 16.05.2019.
10. We have appraised the evidence on record, the material circumstances of the case and the arguments advanced by the learned counsel for the parties.
11. The case of the complainant is that complainant had booked a hotel in the name and styled as Royal Residency, Dalhousie from 20th June,2018 to 23rd June, 2018 and paid Rs.10,620/- in the account of OP no.2 through OP no.1. When the Hotel was booked by complainant, they obtained the screen shot as the booking, which shows only the name of the Hotel but the city name was not mentioned.
12. Further, on 20th June, 2018 the complainant received SMS from OP no.1 regarding confirmation of the hotel booking but the place was not mentioned, only name of the Hotel was mentioned as Royal Residency. According to plan, complainant with their family members started journey from Karnal to Dalhousie and reached Dalhousie at about 7.00 p.m. on 20th June, 2018 near Gandhi Chowk, Dalhousie, H.P. but the name of the Hotel i.e. Royal Residency was not found there. After thorough enquiry the complainant came to know that hotel Royal Residency is located at Khajjiar Dalhousie which is about 24KM far from Dalhousie and after enquiry from said hotel, complainant were shocked that no booking is there even in the said hotel and also came to know that the booking was done by OP no.1 at the hotel of OP no.2 at Ooty instead of Dalhousie. Then certain correspondence through telephonically as well as SMS were got effected between the complainant and one Amit, who was the State Head of Make My Trip in Himachal Pradesh as stated by him to the complainant for refunding of said amount, but in vain, resultantly the complainant had sent a legal notice dated 25.06.2018 to the OPs but it also did not yield any result.
13. On the other hand, the case of the OP no.1 is that complainant on 19.06.2018 placed a request on the official portal of OP to book one room at Hotel Royal Residency, Ooty from 20.06.2018 to 23.06.2018 by paying an amount of Rs.10,620/- and accordingly, the OP no.1 confirmed the booking, vide booking ID NH7123283400016 and subsequently forwarded the booking details at the e.mail ID and contact number provided by the complainant at the time of making their request. Further, the complainant also inserted wrong email IDs at the time of confirming the bookings, therefore, the complainant could not receive the hotel voucher on e.mail. The complainants made the booking in question on 19.06.2018 at 20.01 hours and SMS was sent on 20.06.2018 at 00.21 hours and due to technical limitations, only booking ID, Hotel name and travel dates were mentioned in the confirmation message.
14. Admittedly, the complainant booked the hotel room of the OP from 20th June 2018 to 23rd June 2018 and paid Rs.10,620/- through Credit card. As per screen shot taken by the complainant, the name of the Hotel was shown Royal Residency, Ettines Road, Bombay Kist, but city name was not mentioned. On 20.06.2018 complainant had received one SMS from OP no.1, shows confirmation of the Hotel booking, vide booking ID in Royal Residency but again the place was not mentioned. The OP no.1 has relied upon one agreement Ex.R1. In fact this agreement is not applicable upon the complainant because that has never been executed between the parties to the complaint, nor there was any option upon the portal of the OP no.1 to accept the terms and conditions for the purpose of booking hotels, the booking of hotel straightaway booked by the OP no.1 without any terms and conditions. There is a clause at page 2 of the said agreement Ex.R1, which is reproduced as under:-
“The user shall request make my trip for any refund against the utilization or no show, air of hotel booking for any reason within 90 days from the date of departure for their air tickets and or the date of check in for the hotel booking any applicable refunds would accordingly be proceeded as per the defined policy of airlines, hotels and make my trip as the case may be, no refund would be payable for any request made after the expiry of 90 days as above and all unclaimed amount for which unutilized booking shall be deemed to have been forfeited.”
16. In the agreement Ex.R1, there is a clause uses of the mobile number of the user by MMT. The contents of the same are reproduced hereunder:_
“MMT may send booking confirmation, itinerary information, cancellation, payment confirmation, refund status, schedule change or any such other information relevant for the transaction via SMS or by voice call on the contact number given by the user at the time of booking. MMT may also contact the user by voice call, SMS or email in case the user could not or has not concluded the booking for any reason whatsoever.”
So, in view of the agreement, itself shows that the OP no.1 undertakes to refund the amount only the claim should be filed within 90 days from the date of booking and the claim of the complainant is well within limitation as claim was registered with the OP no.1 only on 20.06.2018 on the next date of booking. The OP no.1 also define that they would communicate their users with all the communications, but the OP no.1 neither made any call to the complainant nor sent any mail or SMS. In fact SMS which was sent by them to the complainant is only regard to confirmation of booking hotel and its name nor the place.
17. The OP no.1 also relied upon Ex.R2 on which the place of hotel is mentioned i.e. Royal Residency Ooty, but this correspondence was got effected between the OPs not between the complainant and OPs. Ex.R2 clearly shows that the OPs no.1 and 2 were having correct mail ID as well as phone number of the complainant, but even then they had not communicated with the complainant in any way of manner. The complainant had paid Rs.20,000/- for two nights i.e. 20.06.2018 and 21.06.2018 to the other hotel for staying there. Hence, in view of above facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the considered view that OPs are deficient in their services.
18. Thus, as a sequel to abovesaid discussion, we allow the present complaint and direct the OPs to refund Rs.10,620/- to the complainant with interest @ 9% per annum from the date of deposit till its realization. We further direct the OP to pay Rs.20,000/- to the complainant on account of mental agony and harassment suffered by him and for the litigation expense. This order shall be complied within 30 days from the receipt of copy of this order. The parties concerned be communicated of the order accordingly and the file be consigned to the record room after due compliance.
Announced
Dated:21.05.2019
President,
District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Forum, Karnal.
(Vineet Kaushik)
Member
