Makemytrip India Pvt. Ltd., DLF Building No.5, Tower B, DLF Cyber City, DLF Phase-2, Sector 25, Gurugram, Haryana-122002, India. …..Opposite party
Complaint under Section 35 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
QUORUM:
SH. K.K. KAREER, PRESIDENT
SH. JASWINDER SINGH, MEMBER
COUNSEL FOR THE PARTIES:
For complainant : Sh. Ramil Kumar Gupta in person.
For OP : Sh. Manish Mann, Advocate.
ORDER
PER K.K. KAREER, PRESIDENT
1. Briefly stated, the case of the complainant is that the complainant purchased holiday package for two families for a visit to Kashmir from the OPs for a sum of Rs.75,296/-. The proposed trip to Kashmir was from 13.04.2022 to 17.04.2022 with booking Id: NL2122253004300. As per the itinerary provided by the OP, the complainant along with his family members reached Fresh Water Resort hotel in Pahalgam on 13.04.2022. However, the said hotel did not entertain the complainant and his family members on the pretext that the booking was not confirmed. The complainant was humiliated and harassed at the receipt of the hotel. The complainant called the OP’s local agent and asked him to get in touch with hotel management as his family members were facing lot of inconvenience. The representative of the OP finally arranged an alternative accommodation in another hotel situated at a distance of 14 Kms from the original booked hotel and in the process, three hours of valuable time was lost. As a result, the complainant could not visit Aru Valley, Betaab Valley, Chandanwari the places which were to be visited on 13.04.2022 itself after checking in the hotel Fresh Water Resort. As a result, the complainant had also to postpone the sightseeing of places at Srinagar on 15.04.2022 as per itinerary. The complainant also had to cancel the trip to Sonmarg scheduled on 15.04.2022. Apart from this, on 17.04.2022, Tavera car was provided instead of Innova car which was originally promised and the taxi driver dropped the complainant and his family members at the main gate of Srinagar Airport instead of actual dropping point of the airport due to which the complainant and his family members had to walk about 2 Kms which also caused lot of inconvenience and harassment. The complainant lodged a complaint with National Consumer Helpline on 18.04.2022. It was closed by the OP with the remarks that a future travel voucher of Rs.5000/- was being issued to the complainant. This amounts to deficiency of service on the part of the OP. In the end, it has been requested that the OP be made to refund at least Rs.50,000/- to the complainant for not rendering proper services.
2. The complaint has been resisted by the OP. In the written filed on behalf of the OP, it has been pleaded that all the online transactions are governed by the user agreement and the complainant is bound by the terms and conditions of the said user agreement. It has been admitted that a five days tour package in Kashmir and Pahalgam was availed by the complainant as per the itinerary Annexure-R1. According to the OP, it is only a facilitator between the services provider and the intended traveler and the obligation of the OP only is limited to provide the customer with the confirmed booking. The OP is only a facilitator for providing confirmed booking of transport, hotels and meals for the tour package booked by the user and as per the user agreement, the OP is not responsible for any deviance in the standard of the service provided by the concerned end service provider. Therefore no liability can be fastened on the OP keeping in view the terms and conditions of the user agreement. The OP has further pleaded that consequence upon the denial of check-in by Fresh Water Resort, the complainant was upgraded with accommodation at hotel Hilltop at a nearby location at a higher rate and without charging anything from the complainant. As regards the fact that the complainant and his family members were dropped at the main gate of Srinagar Airport instead of actual point of dropping, it has been pleaded that the complainant has not impleaded the concerned cab provider as a party. Moreover any service related issues with the concerned cab service provider is not under the control of the OP. The complainant has further not impleaded the management of the concerned hotel namely Fresh water Resort which refused to give accommodation to the complainant on their arrival to Pahalgam. Besides the complainant has been given free future travel voucher of Rs.5000/- as a goodwill gesture for the inconvenience caused to the complainant. It has also been pleaded that the compensation and damages claimed by the complainant are unjustified and unsubstantiated. The other averments made in the complaint have been denied as wrong and a prayer for dismissal of the complaint has also been made.
3. The parties have led their evidence in respect of their respective claims.
4. We have heard the arguments advanced by the counsel for the parties and gone through the record carefully.
5. As per the itinerary attached with the complaint, the complainant and his family members were to arrive at Srinagar Airport on 13.04.2022 and they were to be picked up from the airport and dropped at Pahalgam hotel i.e. Fresh Water Resort and on 13.04.22 itself, the complainant and his family members were to visit Aru valley, Betaab Valley and Chandanbari in the area of Pahalgam. However, the hotel management of Fresh Water Resort refused to accommodate the complainant on the pretext that their booking was not confirmed. As a result, the OP provided an alternate accommodation which was situated 14 Kms away from the original booked hotel. In the process of finding the alternative accommodation, 3-4 hours of valuable time of the complainant were lost and apart from that, the complainant and his family members were put to much inconvenience and humiliation. It also resulted in loss of time due to which the complainant could not visit Aru valley, Betaab Value and Chandanbari on 13.04.2022. The complainant has further claimed that the said places were visited on 14.04.2022 with the result the complainant and his family members reached Srinagar late evening on 14.04.2022 and could not do local sightseeing at Srinagar which was to be done on 14.04.2022. As a result, the local sightseeing was taken on 15.04.2022 with the result that the excursion to Sonmarg from Srinagar on 15.04.2022 had to be abandoned. Apart from that, the complainant and his family were put to inconvenience as on the last day of the trip, the driver of the vehicle arranged by the OP dropped them outside the airport instead of dropping them at a proper dropping point again causing lot of inconvenience.
6. In this regard, the deference raised by the OP is that as per the user agreement Annexure-R1 and R2 which were agreed to by the complainant at the time of booking the package online, the OP is not liable for any changes taking place in the itinerary or even for not honouring the reservation of the concerned hotel. In this regard, the counsel for the OP has further contended that a suitable alternate accommodation was provided to the complainant on the same day and no case of deficiency of service is made out. It has also been contended by the OP that the complainant has neither impleaded the hotel manager of Fresh Water Resort nor the taxi service provider and, therefore, the complaint is liable to be dismissed on this ground alone.
7. We have thoughtfully considered the above contentions on behalf of the OP but have found the same to be devoid of any force or substance. Once the booking of the hotel as per the itinerary was made by the OP and once on the arrival of the complainant was not entertained into the hotel booked by the OP, the latter cannot eschew its liability for not having ensured that the booking was proper and confirmed. We can very well imagine the plight of a tourist when he arrives at a hotel which is duly booked on his behalf and when he is confronted with the situation at the reception of the hotel that his booking is not confirmed. It is also not disputed that a period of 3-4 hours was lost by the OP in finding an alternative accommodation which was situated at a distance of 14 Kms away from the original booked hotel. In the given situation, the complainant and his family could not have been expected to visit the places which they could visit on 13.04.2022 if they had been accommodated in the originally booked hotel. Therefore, in the given facts and circumstances of the case, the entire blame has to be put on the OP if the complainants could not enjoy the tour as per the original itinerary and they had to miss out their visit to Sonmarg on 15.04.2022, the taxi expenses of which were to be borne by the OP. In addition to this, the taxi service arranged by the OP for the complainant also failed to properly drop the complainant and his family members at Srinagar Airport on the last day of the tour. The complementary voucher of Rs.5,000/- offered by OP as a compensation for poor and deficient services provided by the OP appears to be woefully inadequate and meager. In the given facts and circumstances of the present case, it would be just and proper if the OP is made to pay compensation and cost of Rs.25,000/- to the complainant.
8. As a result of above discussion, the complaint is partly allowed with a direction to the OP to pay compensation and cost of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only) to the complainant. Compliance of order be made within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of the order. Copies of order be supplied to parties free of costs as per rules. File be indexed and consigned to record room.
(Jaswinder Singh) (K.K. Kareer)
Member President
Announced in Open Commission.
Dated:29.09.2022.
Gobind Ram.
Ramil Kumar Gupta Vs Makemytrip CC/22/241
Present: Complainant Sh. Ramil Kumar Gupta in person.
Sh. Manish Mann, Advocate for the OP.
Arguments heard. Vide separate detailed order of today, the complaint is partly allowed with a direction to the OP to pay compensation and cost of Rs.25,000/- (Rupees Twenty Five Thousand only) to the complainant. Compliance of order be made within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of the order. Copies of order be supplied to parties free of costs as per rules. File be indexed and consigned to record room.
(Jaswinder Singh) (K.K. Kareer)
Member President
Announced in Open Commission.
Dated:29.09.2022.
Gobind Ram.
