District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission ,Faridabad.
Consumer Complaint No.424/2020.
Date of Institution: 09.11.2020.
Date of Order: 16.06.2022.
1. Devbrata Bakshi, aged about 42 years, son of Shri Rabinda Nath Bakshi, Aadhar Card No. 9830 9429 6044 resident of House No. 64-A, Gali NO.4, Raja Nahar Singh Colony, Sector-3, Ballabgarh, District Faridabad.
2. Devanand Tiwari, son of Shri ram Murti, Aadhar Card No. 7748 5620 0861, resident of House No. 1376/7, Ward No.7, Saxena Clinic, Parawatia Colony, Faridabad.
3. Sachin Gautam Son of Shri Ravinder Gautam, Aadhar card No. 7009 1888 7556, resident of house No.26, Mukesh colony, Ballabgarh, District Faridabad. Mobile No. 8053075321.
…….Complainants……..
Versus
1. M/s. Spicejet Limited, 311, Udyog Vihar, Phase-IV, Gurugram-122016 through its Directors/Principal Officers.
2. M/s. Cleartrip Travel Services, 312, 3rd floor, Vipul Agora Building Mehrauli – Gurugram Road, Sector-25, Gurugram – 122002, Sushant Lok, Phase-I.
…Opposite parties……
Complaint under section-12 of Consumer Protection Act, 1986
Now amended Section 34 of Consumer protection Act 2019.
BEFORE: Amit Arora……………..President
Mukesh Sharma…………Member.
PRESENT: Smt. Santosh Kumari , counsel for the complainant.
AR on behalf of opposite party No.1.
Opposite party No.2 given up.
ORDER:
The facts in brief of the complaint are that the opposite parties booked the air tickets of the complainants of up and down on 28.01.2020 from Delhi to Guwahati and from Guwahati to Delhi as the complainants were to go from Delhi to Guwahati on 25rh June 2020 through flight NO. SG8152 and they were to return back from Guwahati to Delhi on 28th June 2020 through Flight NO. SG8169 vide PNR No. EFU43H, Q97NSS respectively. At the time of booking, the opposite party No.2 received an amount of Rs.26,161/- from the complainants vide Cleartrip Order No. 163173847867059130 dated 28.01.2020. Infact the complainants were to go to attend Ambubachi Mela at Maa Kamakhya Temple at Guwahati (Assam State) and the said mela was to start from 22.6.2020, but unfortunately the said mela was declared as cancelled since 06.06.2020 by following the guidelines of MHA and Assam State Government and the said temple was declared as closed till 30th June 2020. As the Assam and Delhi Governments insisted on mandatory quarantine so it was not possible to reach Guwahati on 25.06.2020 as scheduled and come there were no traces of outbreak of pandemic covid 19 in India. In fact, there was declaration of lockdown by Govt. of India since 22nd March 2020 and the same was till continued and this fact was very much within the knowledge of the opposite parties, hence the complainant approached the opposite parties and asked them to refund back the above said amount of Rs.26,161/- but they always avoided it one pretext or the other and did not make the payment. Even the complainants made several requests to the opposite parties various times through emails on different dates including on 6th June 2020, 14th June 2020, 19th June 2020, 21st June 2020, 22nd June 2020, 24th June 2020, 26th June 2020, 27th June 2020, 29th June 2020, 30th June 2020, Ist July 2020, 2nd July 2020, 4th June 2020, 5th July 2020 and 7th July 2020 but they never tried to give any response to the complainants, but 8th July 2020 the opposite parties sent a reply the complainants vide which they had stated that the amounts given by the complainants had been forfeited. Moreover, since the very inception, the complainants always remain in connection with the opposite parties all the times. The complainants asked several times to the opposite parties to refund back the above said amount of Rs.26,161/- but always the opposite parties avoided it on one pretext or the other. The complainants sent legal notice dated 13.08.2020 to the opposite parties but all in vain. The aforesaid act of opposite parties amounts to deficiency of service and hence the complaint. The complainant has prayed for directions to the opposite parties to:
a) pay to the complainants the amount of Rs.26,161/- alongwith interest @ 24% p.a. from the date of its due till realization of whole amount; immediately.
b) pay Rs.1,00,000/- as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment .
c) pay Rs.11,000/- as litigation expenses .
2. Opposite party No.1 put in appearance through counsel and filed written statement wherein Opposite party No.1 refuted claim of the complainant and submitted that the present complaint filed by the complainant was not maintainable in as much as in the present case, three tickets were booked the names of Devbrata Bakshi, Sachin Gautam and Devananda Tiwari for the Sector Delhi-Guwahati – Delhi, under two PNR’s the details whereof were as under:
PNR Booking Date Travel Date Amount
EFU43H 28.01.2020 25.06.2020 12,399/-SG-8152
Q97NSS 28.01.2020 28.06.2020 13,335/SG-8169
It was sub mitted that due to outbreak of Covid-19, complete lockdown was imposed by the Govt. of India, throughout the country and consequently, travel in normal circumstances, by all modes of travel was also suspended. It was submitted that in last week of ay, 2020, restrictions were eased and consequently, air travel was also allowed. It was, as such, submitted that after first week of June, 2020, the things were normal and the flights of answering opposite parties were operating smoothly. It was submitted that there was a minor change in timings of the flight i.e. as against schedule departure time of 10:30 AM , flight No. SG-8152 from Delhi to Guwahati departed at 10:20 AM and as against schedule departure time of 16:15 hours, flight No. SG-8169 departed at 16:00 hours. It was submitted that intimation of the said change was duly given to the complainant and fellow passengers at the registered email:devbratabakshi@gmail.com and registered mobile number:8130676089 on 28.05.2020 and 29.05.2020. It was submitted that on both the aforesaid dates i.e. on 25.06.2020 and 28.06.2020, both the flights in question had operated as per their schedule timings. The complainant sought to cancel the tickets by writing an email. The said e-mail of the complainant was promptly replied by the answering opposite party, vide email dated 23.06.2020 whereby, the complainant was told and advised that both the
flights were operational and incase the complainant and other passengers wanted to cancel the flights, they could do so by following the appropriate and requisite procedure, advised in the said mail and it was further communicated to them that the applicable cancellation charges would be deducted. It was submitted that despite the said email and mentioning of the requisite procedure at the website of the answering opposite party, the complainant or the fellow passengers did not adopt the correct procedure, resulting in No Show by the complainants for the said flight and their ticket amount having been forfeited. It was submitted that as per the terms and conditions contained in terms of carriage, cancellation by sending an email was not the proper and valid mode of cancellation of the tickets. It was submitted that as per the prevailing cancellation charges, a sum of Rs.11,595/- was forfeited in PNR No.EFU43H and amount of Rs.804/- was refunded on 07.10.2020 to the travel agent i.e. opposite party No.2 through whom the ticket was got booked and in PNR No. Q97NSS a sum of Rs.11,295/- was forfeited and a sum of Rs.2040/- was refunded on 09.10.2020 to opposite party NO.2 i.e concerned agency through which the tickets in question were got booked. It was submitted that answering opposite party had already remitted the balance ticket amount to the complainants, strictly as per the terms and conditions of carriage, the present complaint did not survive as against the answering opposite party. Opposite party No.1 denied rest of the allegations leveled in the complaint and prayed for dismissal of the complaint.
3. On 07.12.2021, Smt. Santosh Kumari, counsel for the complainant has made a statement that “I give up Opposite party No.2 i.e M/s. Cleartrip Travel Services, 03-119, 3rd floor, DLF Forum, DLF Cyber City DLF Phase-III being unnecessary. “. Hence, opposite party No.2 was given up from the array of opposite parties.
4. The parties led evidence in support of their respective versions.
5. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have gone through the record on the file.
6. In this case the complaint was filed by the complainant against opposite parties – spicejet Limited with the prayer to : ) pay to the complainants the amount of Rs.26,161/- alongwith interest @ 24% p.a. from the date of its due till realization of whole amount;
immediately. b) pay Rs.1,00,000/- as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment . c) pay Rs.11,000/- as litigation expenses .
To establish his case the complainant has led in his evidence Ex.CW1/A – affidavit of Shri Devbrata Bakshi, Ex.C-1 – legal notice, Ex.C2 & 3 – postal receipts,Ex.C-3A – ticket, Ex.C-4 – order details, Ex.C-5 to 17 – emails, Ex.C-18 – certificate regarding thee will not be large scale mela celebration during Ambubachi, Annx.C-19 to C-22 – email.
On the other hand counsel for the opposite party No.1 strongly agitated and opposed. As per the evidence of the opposite party No.1, Ex.RW-1/A – affidavit of Shri Vijay Roy, deputy General Manager – Legal, Spicejet Ltd., Gurugram, Haryana, Ex.R-1 –Terms of Carriage,
7. The counsel for the complainant argued that the opposite parties booked the air tickets of the complainants of up and down on 28.01.2020 from Delhi to Guwahati and from Guwahati to Delhi as the complainants were to go from Delhi to Guwahati on 25rh June 2020 through flight No.SG8152 and they were to return back from Guwahati to Delhi on 28th June 2020 through Flight No.SG8169 vide PNR No. EFU43H, Q97NSS respectively. At the time of booking, the opposite party No.2 received an amount of Rs.26,161/- from the complainants vide Cleartrip Order No. 163173847867059130 dated 28.01.2020. The complainants were to go to attend Ambubachi Mela at Maa Kamakhya Temple at Guwahati (Assam State) and the said mela was to start from 22.6.2020, but unfortunately the said mela was declared as cancelled since 06.06.2020 by following the guidelines of MHA and Assam State Government and the said temple was declared as closed till 30th June 2020. As the Asaam and Delhi Governments insisted on mandatory quarantine so it was not possible to reach Guwahati on 25.06.2020 as scheduled and come there were no traces of outbreak of pandemic covid 19 in India. In fact, there was declaration of lockdown by Govt. of India since 22nd March 2020 and the same was till continued and this fact was very much within the knowledge of the opposite parties, hence the complainant approached the opposite parties and asked them to refund back the abvoesaid amount of Rs.26,161/- but they always avoided it one pretext or the other and did not make the payment.
8. Counsel for the opposite party No.1 argued that the above said tickets were
booked by the complainants from opposite parties . It was argued that there was a minor change in timings of the flight i.e.as against schedule departure time of 10:30AM flight No.SG-8152 from Delhi to Guwahati departed at 10:20 AM and as against schedule departure time of 16:15 hours, flight No. SG-8169 departed at 16:00 hours. Intimation of the said change was duly given to the complainant and fellow passengers at the registered email:devbratabakshi@gmail.com and registered mobile number:8130676089 on 28.05.2020 and 29.05.2020. It was submitted that on both the aforesaid dates i.e. on 25.06.2020 and 28.06.2020, both the flights in question had operated as per their schedule timings. The complainant sought to cancel the tickets by writing an email. The said e-mail of the complainant was promptly replied by the answering opposite party, vide email dated 23.06.2020 whereby, the complainant was told and advised that both the flights were operational and incase the complainant and other passengers wanted to cancel the flights, they could do so by following the appropriate and requisite procedure, advised in the said mail and it was further communicated to them that the applicable cancellation charges would be deducted. As per the prevailing cancellation charges, a sum of Rs.11,595/- was forfeited in PNR No.EFU43H and amount of Rs.804/- was refunded on 07.10.2020 to the travel agent i.e. opposite party No.2 through whom the ticket was got booked and in PNR No. Q97NSS a sum of Rs.11,295/- was forfeited and a sum of Rs.2040/- was refunded on 09.10.2020 to opposite party NO.2 i.e concerned agency through which the tickets in question were got booked. Opposite party No.1 had already remitted the balance ticket amount to the complainants, strictly as per the terms and conditions of carriage, the present complaint did not survive as against the answering opposite party.
9. After going through the evidence le
d by the parties, the Commission is of the opinion that as per Govt. instructions for COVID –19 Pandemic that 100% amount will be given to the complainant of the booking. In the interest of justice, direction is given to the opposite parties to deduct 10% as administrative charges from the total amount. Resultantly, the complaint is allowed.
10. Opposite party No.1 is directed to:
a) refund the amount after deduction of 10% as administrative charges from the total amount.
b) pay Rs.1100/- as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment.
c) pay Rs. 1100/- as litigation expenses.
Opposite party No.1 is directed to pay first pay to the complainant and thereafter Opposite party No.1 is at liberty to recover the above said amount from opposite party No.2. Compliance of this order be made within 30 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order. Copy of this order be sent to the parties concerned free of costs. File be consigned to the record room.
Announced on: 16.06.2022 (Amit Arora)
President
District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission, Faridabad.
(Mukesh Sharma)
Member
District Consumer Disputes
Redressal Commission, Faridabad.
