Delhi

West Delhi

CC/17/300

SACHIN SHARMA - Complainant(s)

Versus

MAKEMY TRIP - Opp.Party(s)

24 Dec 2021

ORDER

 

BEFORE THE HONBLE PRESIDENT, DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTE REDRESSAL FORUM, NEW DELHI

(Complaint No 300./2017)

I In the matter of :-

MR. SACHIN GUPTA

S/O SH. H.K. GUPTA

R/O – b 1/34, GOLD CROFT APARTMENT,

SECTOR-11, PLOT NO.4, DWARKA.

NEW DELHI - 110075

                                                                                    ……………..COMPLAINANT

VERSUS

 

M/S MAKEMYTRIP INDIA PVT.  LTD.

MAKEMYTRIP INDIA PVT. LTD.

UG-7, UPPER GROUND FLOOR,

TDI MALL, 11 SHIVAJI PLACE COMPLEX,

RAJOURI GARDEN

LANDMARK: ADJACENT TO SHOPPERS’ STOP

NEW DELHI - 110027

 

………………OPPOSITE PARTY

 

Coram:                                                                                                  

1. SONICA MEHROTRA (PRESIDENT)
2. RICHA JINDAL (MEMBER)
3. ANIL KOUSHAL (MEMBER)

Date of Institution: 19.07.2018

Date of Judgement Reserved:02.12.2021

Date of Order :24.12.2021

 

Order by – Ms.RICHA JINDAL (Member)

 

ORDER

 

The complainant has filed the present complaint against OPs u/s 12  of Consumer Protection Act, 1986 . The facts as alleged in the complaint are that the  complainant is engaged in profession of preparing artificial eyes and other facial parts  and  in relation to the aforesaid business was to attend an International Medical Conference at Manchester, United Kingdom (UK for short) on 3^rd and 4th September, 2015 as he was to present a speech and  to represent India. He  also planned to visit few other selected cities of UK starting from 27/08/2015 alongwith family members.  It is submitted that the parents in law  of complainant were already in UK and the complainant was supposed to join all his family members at UK on 28/08/2015 and was to return  to India on 08/09/2015. The complainant after seeing the advertisements and offers of Opposite party from its website  www.makemytrip.com,  on 24/08/2015 at about 00:30, booked air tickets under Makemytrip Booking ID : IN1508B4S245303 from Delhi to Edinburgh for 27-08-2015 for himself and his wife Shreya Gupta and Son namely Vivaan Gupta and return tickets from London to Delhi for 08/09/2015 respectively on payment of Rs. 1,58,545/- from his HDFC Credit card.    

On  24/08/2015 at about 6:25 AM the complainant received a phone call from OP that the air tickets booked by him were cancelled, but the same was done  without his   prior approval or request and no reason was assigned for the same. This act of opposite party was one sided of which ill consequences were to be borne by the complainant without any wrong on his part. The complainant spent whole day in arguing with the customer care officials of the opposite party to know the reason for such arbitrary cancellation of air ticket by it without any approval or request from the complainant.  He  was further astonished to receive a  message from the OP about refund of Rs. 5,863/- against the cancellation of confirmed tickets worth Rs.1,58,545/-, whereupon he again called customer care of Opposite Party and spoke with one  Ms. Megha, Supervisor of Opposite Party who offered the complainant to book fresh tickets from them on payment of the same fare and any hike in prices thereof shall be borne by OP only and she also assured to arrange for the 100% refund of cancelled tickets amount which would be sent back in credit card account of the complainant within 24 hours.   Not suspecting the foul play on the part of the opposite party and on giving a second thought that mistakes do happen and can occur in such a huge organization and  atleast the opposite party is assisting its customer for his best satisfaction and is trying to earn the lost goodwill in his eyes, the complainant accepted the said offer and booked another ticket on payment of the same fare as was offered by Opposite Party. The payment thereof too was made from his above mentioned HDFC Credit Card. After receiving the confirmation e-mail from OP, the complainant cross-checked the same on the website of Etihad Airways in which the complainant and his family members flight tickets were confirmed and even the complainant selected the seat preference, meals etc. The complainant became confident and felt secured about his tour to UK.

As per travel schedule, on 27-08-2015 when the complainant alongwith his family reached Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Terminal 3, New Delhi and reported at the ticketing counter of Etihad Airways at about 5:45 PM, he was sent to some other counter where after waiting for 20-25 minutes the complainant was apprised that these tickets had also been cancelled by Opposite Party again without any request or prior approval sought from the complainant.

The complainant was stuck in the situation as  he  could not cancel or postpone his visit firstly due to international medical conference and secondly due to certain non-cancellable and non-refundable bookings of Hotel Rooms, Cars on rent etc. and thirdly his parents-in-law had already reached UK and were to receive him at Edinburgh Airport, UK. The complainant was so embarrassed and humiliated before the airways officials and  his wife who  was very earlier happy with the imagination of tour, now was looking to the complainant with eyes full of questions and deep sadness therein, only due to unjust, irresponsible, unprofessional and arbitrary act of OP. Neither OP nor Etihad Airways ever cared to inform him about such cancellation of  his tickets prior to  visit to the Etihad Airways counter.

The complainant immediately contacted customer care office of OP and they confirmed that Delhi to Edinburg ticket had been cancelled and on asking for the reason for such cancellation, the opposite party again failed to assign any reasons for the same. The complainant requested them to book fresh tickets immediately so that he could continue with his trip but customer care executive refused to do so and offered an enquiry which may take 7 days for any decision.  The complainant was left with no other option but to immediately book the seats in the same  flight afresh only  on payment of Rs.2,24,900/- from his abovesaid HDFC Credit Card from Taj Forex and India Tours Pvt Ltd, a local travel agent available at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Terminal 3, New Delhi.

During this entire episode, the complainant was continuously on calls  with customer care of OP and in haste and mental pressure, firstly the complainant couldn’t divert his business calls to his assistant so that his  patients or any other person contacting him  may get a proper response (which the complainant always does every time prior to leaving for abroad) and secondly nor could focus on the account balance in his  said HDFC Credit Card which the complainant was supposed to use for buying meals for him and his family and meet other future journey expenses. Resultantly due to exhaustion of the battery of the cell phone, it got switched off and the complainant again was in a fix. Since that was the peak season for eye-patients treatment as also the fact that the complainant could not skip the trip to UK as the complainant was invited to deliver the speech on behalf of India, so as to maintain the dignity of the country, the complainant tried his best to divert his phone call to his assistant by trying India sim to use call forwarding or writing email to Airtel (service provider) or calling on Airtel Customer Care even from UK but the complainant miserably failed to do so and was helpless and bound to wait till the complainant returned to India.

The complainant exchanged a number of e-mails with Opposite Party.  He  was also worried about the status of his return air flights to India and when he checked about the same there in UK, it was really painful to know that the same were cancelled too, on which he contacted his brother in India to confirm the reasons for such cancellation from makemytrip.com and it was apprised by Mr. Kashish Tomar, an official of OP at its Customer Care that the return tickets were  not cancelled for which an e-mail was also sent on behalf of makemytrip.com.

The complainant was further shocked to receive another e-mail from accounts department of OP asking for payment of Rs.63,656/-  being the difference in the amount of the tickets he purchased at first and the new tickets booked on the abovesaid assurance of makemytrip.com.

During the whole trip it was impossible for the complainant and his family to enjoy it at the fullest due to unprofessional, unreliable and irresponsible conduct of makemytrip.com/OP  as they had caused lots of mental harassment to him and his family in UK and here in India too.  It is submitted that due to the said unprofessional and arbitrary act, the money of complainant i.e. Rs 3,77,582/- remained with the OP which could have been utilized by the complainant during his trip to UK. This has been an unwanted harassment and the reason for it was still unknown.

The complainant after  great efforts was able to get his amount refunded from the OP against his cancelled ticket and the amount spent on purchasing fresh air ticket from the counter (i.e. Rs.1,58,545/- + Rs.2,24,900/-) totaling Rs.3,83,445/- on 28/09/2015.

            It is submitted  by the complainant that due to the aforesaid acts and deeds of the opposite party, canceling the confirmed tickets, amounted to deficiency in service and, therefore, the complainant being a consumer in terms of the Consumer Protection Act has filed the present complaint, claiming compensation of Rs.10,00,000/- on account of travel inconvenience, mental harassment and business loss suffered due to irresponsible, unprofessional and unreliable business conduct of OP as the Opposite Party had duped and cheated the complainant.  The complainant has alleged that the aforesaid acts and omissions amount to monopolistic, unfair and restrictive trade practices which also results in deficiency in service on part of opposite party.

 

On  notice being issued in the complaint to the OP on 29.08.2017, if  filed written statement wherein it was stated that the contents of complaint are wholly misconceived, vexatious, misleading, misrepresented, unsustainable, false, frivolous with respect to the OP and the same are nothing but a flagrant abuse of the process of law. It took the defence that there is no deficiency of service on the part of the OP and, therefore, no case is made out against the OP under the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (“Act”) and that   the complainant must prove the loss suffered due to the acts and/ or omissions of the OP  in order to allege and receive monetary compensation. There has been no such quantified loss enunciated by the Complainant  which would have been caused by OP. Damages need to be proved in liability cases, the nature and extent of the damages are not the primary focus of the case. The Complainant must be put to strict proof of the said contention made by the Complainant. Hence, the Complainant is not entitled to claim any damages from the OP. OP urged that in case of any operational and technical issues pertaining to materialization of the booking made by the complainant, the OP shall only be liable to refund the booking amount and shall in no circumstances be liable for direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential damages or any damages whatsoever including, without limitation, damages for loss of use, data or profits, arising out of or in any way connected with the use or performance of the MMT website(s) or any other channel. Further, the parties had agreed that in no case, the liability, if any, shall include any loss, damage or additional expense whatsoever beyond the amount charged by MMT for its services. Moreover, it is pertinent to mention that OP has duly discharged its duty by refunding back the amount paid by the Complainant. In view thereof, there can be no ground to level any false and frivolous allegations against OP.  The OP just acted as a facilitator for booking airline tickets for Complainant and his family members. The complainant inquired about the available options for making the said booking online and tried to create an online booking via OP’s website, which in the process of generating the confirmed tickets deducted an amount of Rs.1,58,545/-. However, the process for generating the confirmed air tickets could not be completed due to technical snag on the OP’s website, which is not in the hands of OP as there is no human and manual interference in the same being online booking. OP further prayed that it may be appreciate that in case of online bookings, sometimes the bookings are not confirmed due to sudden drop of seat availability on the chosen flight or due to fluctuation in the connectivity of the airline reservation system. The same is not in the control of the OP as the same flight is uploaded on various other online portals. It is pertinent to note that in the present case, within a span of few hours of Complainant trying to make the booking, the Complainant was informed vide call at 06:25 am that his booking for all three passengers could not be confirmed and was further requested to make fresh bookings. It was categorically informed to the Complainant that the cancellation could have happened because of sudden drop of seat availability on the chosen flight or due to fluctuation in the connectivity of the airline reservation system and that the amount paid by the Complainant will be refunded within two working days as per OP’s normal practice. It is further pertinent to note that OP always strive to ensure best possible technical service to its customers yet, there are circumstances when such inadvertent cancellation do take place in the normal business of OP like any other online service provider. Therefore, if at all any wrong has been done due to aforesaid technical snag, the OP shall only be liable to refund the booking amount, which in the present case has been duly done from their end and the same is not disputed by the complainant. The details of the refund processes are given herein below:

IBM No.	Date of refund	Time	RRN NO.	Amount Refunded (in Rs.)
226617	14.09.2015	10:25	525780004881	5,863
226617	16.09.2015	10:24	525980000043	1,46,319

 

As per OP, the Complainant  again made payment of Rs. 1,58,545/- towards the fresh tickets for the same sector though the total fare towards the fresh tickets was Rs. 1,65,747/-. However, since the Complainant was informed to pay the same amount as that paid under the previous booking, the excess amount of Rs. 7,202/- was borne by the OP towards the fresh tickets, and accordingly the fresh tickets were issued to the Complainant under a new Booking ID i.e. IN1508B4S261497.

      It is contended by the OP that since there was duplicity in booking IDs for the same sector, i.e. both the Booking Ids i.e. IN1508B4S245303 and IN1508B4S261497 were being reflected on the OP’s online system due to some technical snag, therefore, in order to avoid any further confusion, the tickets under the Booking ID i.e. IN1508B4S261497 were cancelled by the OP. It is submitted that the OP tried contacting the Complainant on his registered mobile number, but his number was not reachable. Resultantly, on 27.08.2015, when the Complainant reached the Delhi airport, he was informed at the counter of the airlines that his tickets stand cancelled and he will have to make fresh booking there on the spot. Thereafter, the Complainant purchased new tickets for a sum of Rs. 2,24,900/- and availed his trip.  It is  submitted by the OP  that as soon as the Complainant contacted the OP raising his grievance regarding the cancellation of his tickets, the Complainant was assured that the money spent in purchasing the fresh tickets from the airport, will be duly refunded. Accordingly, as per OP’s commitment, the expenses incurred towards purchasing the fresh tickets to the tune of Rs. 2,24,900/- were duly  refunded back to the Complainant on 28.09.2015 vide refund reference no. 527180011307 and the same is not disputed by complainant either.

It is further submitted by the OP that that after processing the complete refund towards the first booking to the tune of Rs. 1,58,545/- and towards the fresh booking done at the airport for an amount  of Rs. 2,24,900/-; still as a customer centric approach, the OP offered the Complainant an additional refund of Rs. 15,000/- or Future Travel Voucher (FTV) worth the same price for the inconvenience faced, if any. However, the Complainant did not approve of the aforesaid offer and instead filed the present complaint before the Ld. Consumer Forum so that the OP succumbs to the pressure and the Complainant is successful in his mala fide intention for unjust enrichment at the cost of the OP.

      In view of the above submissions, OP prayed that the unfair trade practice or deficiency in service as alleged by the Complainant in his present complaint is wrong, incorrect and in no manner attributable to the OP. The OP adhered to the terms of the Agreement and discharged all its obligations by processing back the refund as agreed. In consonance with the above submissions, OP prayed that the Complaint is without any cause of action against OP inasmuch as OP is not guilty of any deficiency in service and prayed for its dismissal

Complainant has filed his evidence by way of affidavit affirming the facts alleged in the complaint. Thereafter, OP filed their evidence. Both parties filed their written submissions. We have carefully gone through the record of the case and have heard submissions of both the parties.

After appreciating the pleadings of both sides, in our considered opinion, this complaint filed by the complainant is an afterthought even though the OP had already offered an amount of Rs. 15,000/- on 11/10/2015 as full and final settlement of compensation apart from claim amount, which has been duly received by the complainant on 29/09/2015 without any further conversation much prior to filing of the present complaint in Aug 2018 after almost 3 years, which apparently shows that the complaint has been filed only as an arm twisting measure to extract the money illegally in the form of compensation and as such this Commission shall not come to his assistance.

Where Complainant raised consumer dispute and sought huge damages in the sum of Rs 10 Lakh for undue harassment and mental agony, the  Hon’ble Supreme Court upholding the order of the National commission  in the case title Synco Industries vs State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur 2002 (3) CPR 105 (SC) held as under :-

 

“ The complainant had not approached the civil court obviously because before the consumer forum any figure in damages could be claimed without paying court fee. The Supreme court therefore held that the filing of the complaint in the present case amounted abuse of process of Consumer Forum.”

 

However, keeping in viewthe harassment undergone by the complainant for cancellation of tickets by the OP and also observing the principle laid down by the Apex Court in the Synco case(supra), we direct OP to pay a sum of Rs. 15,000/- as already offered by it to the complainant along with further sum of Rs. 15,000/- to be paid by OP to the complainant for the harassment, mental agony, loss of time, litigation charges because despite offering compensation, the OP did not pay the said amount to the complainant till date.

This order shall be complied with by the OP within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order.

            Let a copy of this order be sent to each party free of cost as per Regulation 21 of the Consumer Protection Regulations, 2005.

File be consigned to record room.

 

   

(Richa Jindal)     Member

(Anil Kumar Koushal)               Member

(Sonica Mehrotra)                         President