BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, AMRITSAR.
Consumer Complaint No. 529 of 2019
Date of Institution: 12.7.2019
Date of Decision: 29.10.2019
Manoj Bedi son of Sh. Davinder Kumar resident of Gali No.2, Opposite Government Senior Secondary School Abadi Raigarpura Chheharta, Amritsar Mobile No. 78892-49123
Complainant
Versus
- M/s. Make My Trip Pvt. Ltd. DLF Building No. 5, Tower B DLF Cyber City, DLF Phase 2 Sector 25, Gurgaon, Haryana 122002 India through its Prop./Principal Officer/Manager
- M/s. Oyo Rooms, 325 Spaze & Park Tower B Sohana Road, Gurgaon, through its Manager/Principal Officer/Prop.
- Trivnd Regency, Dharmshala Himachal Pardesh, Meclodganj Bhagsunag Road, Dharmshala 176219 through its Prop./Partner/Manager
Opposite Parties
Complaint under section 12/13 of the Consumer Protection Act
Present: For the Complainant : None
For the Opposite Party No.1 : Sh.Sumant Tuteja,Advocate
For the Opposite Party No.2 : S.K.Vyas,Advocate
Coram
Ms.Rachna Arora, Presiding Member
Sh.Jatinder Singh Pannu,Member
Order dictated by:
Ms.Rachna Aroa, Presiding Member
1. Manoj Bedi, complainant has brought the instant complaint under section 12 & 13 of the Consumer Protection Act on the allegations that on 6.7.2019 complainant with his cousin brother Manish Kumar went to Mecloadganj (HP) by getting online booking on Make My Trip through OYO 35580 Triund Regency Hotel (Bhakshunath) got booked room and its payment has been paid to the complainant. The complainant received message of confirmation vide registration No. NH7203923447726, copy of same is Ex.C-1 and Ex.C-2. The complainant alongwith his cousin reached in the hotel and told about the confirmation of booking and also shown message and the opposite party said that there is no room vacant and has not provided any room. When the complainant asked for cancellation of booking the representative of the opposite party did not give proper reply. Thereafter the complainant searched the customer care number and called on the same and told them about non providing the room and also told about the bad atmosphere and asked to talk with staff and after that the staff of the hotel told that they will not give the room in this rate . The complainant asked the opposite party to cancel the booking but the opposite party told that the booking cannot be cancelled as the same has been confirmed. Thereafter the opposite party No. 1 has booked one room more than distance of 1 KM and the complainant asked that there is rain and there is no arrangement of vehicle and it is difficult to go at that place as the complainant is not conversant with the city . They asked that they will send the direction message and the same was received by the complainant at 5.30 a.m but on calling the opposite party they disconnected the telephone and the complainant so many tried to contact but there was no response from the opposite party . During night at 3.00 a.m. complainant went to nearby hotel and got booked one room with great difficulty. The act of the opposite parties amounts to deficiency in service as well as unfair trade practice. Vide instant complaint, complainant has sought for the following reliefs:-
(a) That the website of opposite party No.1 may kindly be closed or in the alternative they should be imposed heavy fine as they are misguiding the peoples giving false adds on TV ;
(b) Fine of Rs. 5,00,000/- be imposed on Make My Trip Oyo Rooms and Triund Regency Hotel Bakshunath (Macloadganj HP)
Hence, this complaint.
2. Upon notice, opposite party No.1 appeared and filed written version in which it was submitted that opposite party is a consumer centric company which is managed through its online web portal i.e. www.makemytrip.com and mobile application namely Make My Trip. Opposite party provides all the travel related unblemished services and information to its customers but not limited to air ticketing, railways, ticketing, bus booking, hotel bookings at very competitive prices. Opposite party merely acts as a facilitator for booking the confirmed air tickets/hotel bookings on behalf of its customers with the concerned service providers. Opposite party upon the request received from its customer forwards the same to the concerned Hotel/service providers through softwares embedded on its web portal. Upon receiving the confirming from the concerned service providers the booking ID is generated and confirmed bookings/tickets is shared with the customer. In the instant case the answering opposite party issued a confirmed voucher only after receiving a confirmation from OYO. However, it was OYO who denied to provide the services, as booked, to the complainant. It is pertinent to mention here that being the customer centric company the opposite party assists and guides the customer throughout the process of bookings and stay. It is pertinent to mention here that the complainant has only tried to reach the representatives of the opposite party on the day of check out . The complainant has raised the complaint to the opposite party regarding the non availability of the room only on the day of check out. However, had the complainant raised a complaint with the answering opposite party on the day of check in, the representatives of the opposite party could have guided the complainant to the best solution available . Moreover as per User Agreement, it is clear that in case if service provider , OYO in instant case fails to provide the services as booked, the answering opposite party will have a limited liability of processing full refund to the customer which has already been done in the instant case in hand. The answering opposite party processed the full refund of Rs. 1516/- on 8.7.2019 vide refund reference number 191888351488. Hence, the answering opposite party has already met with all its obligations and no liability of any sort shall be bound upon the answering opposite party. Further as a gesture of goodwill opposite party has also added a future travel voucher of Rs. 500/- to the Make My Trip Customer Account of the complainant. While denying and controverting other allegations, dismissal of complaint was prayed.
3. Opposite party No.2 in its written version has submitted that as per complaint, the complainant had booked One Night Stay package on 7.7.2019 for a total paid consideration of INR 1923.23/- with an effective discount of INR 406.92 with a total amount of Rs. 1516.31 which was confirmed vide email dated 6.7.2019 and receipt No. PNR 0053235518 and booking ID NH7203923447726 online Make My Trip App through OYO 35580 Triund Regency Hotel. The complainant alleged that the booking was cancelled by opposite party No.2 which is false as the opposite party No.2 never cancelled the booking . That it was the complainant who did not confirmed his arrival or time pertaining to his arrival after repeated attempts made by the opposite party to have the said booking confirmed. As per general terms and conditions of guest booking policy “Guests may be contacted closer to their check in date to confirm the arrival status or arrival time through calls or messages. In case we do not receive a response from the guest after multiple attempts, the booking may be put on hold or cancelled. In case of availability, OYO will try to reinstate your booking when you contact us back or make a payment through our multitude of payment options” . As the complainant did not responded to opposite party No.2 or actual arrival of timing with opposite party No.1 prior to its arrival as per general terms and conditions, as such the complainant was not able to avail a room due to lack of vacancy in the said hotel. However, the complainant contacted opposite party No.2 regarding the issue and as such alternative accommodation was provided to the complainant . It was denied that said accommodation was provided after hours of wait. It was submitted that as per records of opposite party No.2 booking was cancelled from the end of complainant and not by opposite party No.2. In this case the complainant was negligent in providing the requisite details i.e. arrival time which caused delay in confirming his booking . While denying and controverting other allegations, dismissal of complaint was prayed.
4. Alongwith the complaint , complainant has filed copy of tax invoice as well as confirmation of the room Ex.C-1 and Ex.C-2, affidavit of the complainant Ex.CW1/A, photos of Triund Regency Hotel and Nearby area Ex.C-3 to Ex.C-6.
5. On the other hand opposite party No.1 alongwith written version has filed agreement Ex.OP1, copy of company master data Ex.OP2, affidavit of Ekank Mehra , authorized representative Ex.OP1/A.
6. Whereas opposite party No.2 alongwith written version has filed affidavit of Shreya Agrawal, authorized representative Ex.OP2, letter of authority Annexure A, general terms and conditions Annexure B.
7. We have heard the Ld.counsel for the opposite parties and have carefully gone through the record on the file.
8. From the appraisal of the evidence on record the case of the complainant is that he alongwith his cousin brother Manish Kumar went to Macloadganj by getting online booking on Make My Trip through OYO 35580 Triund Regency and made payment of Rs. 1516.31 paise. The contention of the complainant is that even after confirmation the complainant was not provided the hotel room and the complainant felt harassment by this act of the opposite party. On the other hand the plea of opposite party No.1 is that it is a consumer centric company which is managed through its online web portal i.e. www.makemytrip.com and opposite party No.1 merely acts as a facilitator for booking the confirmed hotel. It was the opposite party No.1 i.e. OYO, who denied to provide the services as booked to the complainant. Moreover as per user agreement it is clear that in case if service provider i.e. OYO fails to provide the services as booked then answering opposite party No.1 will have a limited liability of processing the full refund to the customer which has already been done on 8.7.2019 vide refund reference No. 191888351488 and as a goodwill gesture opposite party No.1 had also added future travel voucher of Rs. 500/- to the Make My Trip Customer Account of the complainant. Whereas the plea of the opposite party No.2 is that as the complainant has booked one night stay package on 7.7.2019 for a total paid consideration of Rs. 1923.23 with an effective discount of Rs. 406.92 with a total amount of Rs. 1516.31. But the complainant did not confirm his arrival or time pertaining to his arrival even after repeated attempts made by opposite party No.2 to have the said booking confirmed. In case the opposite party No.2 did not receive a response from guests after multiple attempts, the booking may be put on hold or cancelled. As the complainant did not responded to opposite party No.2, as such the complainant was not able to avail the room due to lack of vacancy in the said hotel. Moreover opposite party No.2 provided alternative accommodation . Therefore, opposite party No.2 is not deficient in providing the services.
9. While going through the facts and circumstances of the case, we are of the opinion that complainant has not sought relief regarding refund of Rs. 1516.31 paise which shows that opposite party No.1 has made refund of the said amount to the complainant. However, after filing his case the case was processed through Davinder Kumar being father of the complainant. But no such authorization letter was produced on record by said Davinder Kumar to make his appearance on behalf of the complainant. However, said Davinder Kumar while appearing on the first date of hearing has signed on the zimni order dated 17.7.2019 and has not produced on record authorization letter after giving so many opportunities. Moreover during arguments nonE appeared on behalf of the complainant even after giving opportunities which clearly shows that complainant has no interest to pursue his case as he got refund of Rs. 1516.31 paise from opposite party No.1.
10. In view of the above discussion, we do not find any merit in the present complaint and the same is hereby dismissed with no order as to costs. Copies of the orders be furnished to the parties free of costs. File is ordered to be consigned to the record room.
Announced in Open Forum (Rachna Arora)
Presiding Member
Dated: 29.10.2019
(Jatinder Singh Pannu)
Member
