O  R   D   E   R

(Per Ms. Cynthia A. Colaco,Member)

The complaint is filed against the opposite party by the complainant under section 12 of the C.P.Act and in the complaint it is stated as under:-

1.       That the Complainant had booked an E-tickets from the official website of the opposite party, from Kolkata to Goa  and had to avail of two flights in order to complete the journey. The first being a Jet Airways flight  (9W620) departing from Kolkata at 13.45 pm and arriving at  Mumbai at 16.20pm . The second flight was from Mumbai to Goa departure time being at 17.05 pm and arriving at Dabolim Goa at 18.05pm. Towards the said E tickets a consolidated fare of Rs 12,879:00 each  was paid for the entire journey from Kolkata to Goa. That the departures and the arrivals to their respective destinations would be as scheduled.

2.         That on  15-03-2013 the Jet airways (9W620) from Kolkota to Mumbai  was delayed for 55 minutes, it reached at 17.15 pm instead of the scheduled time, which resulted in her missing the Jet Konnect  flight to Goa  which left at 17.05 pm.

3.        The delay in flight disturbed her entire travel schedule, being a proprietor of Namrata Kashyap and Associates, which is a landscape firm.  Therefore the complainant was constrained to buy a ticket with  Indigo airlines (ZPPUDR) for the  journey from  Mumbai to Goa, leaving Mumbai at 19.05 hours and which arrived at the Goa airport at 20.05 hours, for which she was forced to pay a further amount of  Rs.4679:00.

4.         That being the proprietor of the firm  and being well known for her architectural work  she had fixed a lot of appointments with her clients who were inconvenienced due to the delay in reaching Goa, which delay was  from 18.05 hours to 20.05 hours which is a two hours delay.

5.        That she underwent expenses, mental agony and tremendous inconvenience and was not refunded the amount paid for the flight  from Mumbai to Goa.

6.        That the complainant  paid an additional amount of Rs. 4679/- towards the flight ticket from Mumbai to Goa  which was an additional expense borne by her.

7.     That at the Mumbai airport no assistance was given to her although she was a frequent traveler and holding silver membership card.

8.       That she requested the ground staff to convert her ticket to an open ticket on the same PNR or to assist her in finding a safe hotel accommodation in Mumbai as she was alone.

 9.        Further it was stated in her notice sent that as per regulations of AAI the complainant should have been given suitable accommodation  and put on the next available flight  as the delayed arrival was the cause of her missing the connecting flight.

10.       That she had addressed her grievance to the opposite party by e-mail addressed to jetprivilege@jetairways.com on 16-03-2013 and on 21-05-2013  and the only reply received were auto generated messages.

11.      That as the grievances were not addressed by the opposite party the claim was filed praying that the amount paid for  the ticket flight of Jet Konnect (9W7009) from Mumbai to Goa of an approximate amount of Rs.7,000:00, and also that  the amount of Rs.4679:00  be refunded. For Rs.10,000:00 towards the legal notice and Rs.1,00,000:00 towards compensation.

12.       The complaint was presented on 25-10-2013 and admitted on 14-11-2013. The opposite party being served filed their written version on 09-01-2014.

13.        In the written version, it has been stated that the complaint was filed with the sole object of extracting money  and cost should be imposed under section 26, as the complainant had not come before this Forum with clean hands .

14.         It was further stated that though there was a ten minutes delay for the flight leaving from Kolkata , it however landed at the Mumbai airport at the scheduled time namely 16.20 hours., which left the complainant with 45 minutes to board the flight from Mumbai to Goa.

15.     That there was a 55 five minutes delay in the flight from Kolkata reaching the Mumbai airport was denied. That this alleged delay resulted in the complainant not being able to avail of the connecting flight from Mumbai to Goa was denied .

16.     It was further stated that the flight reached Mumbai at its scheduled time .  That despite an interval of 45 minutes from the time of her arrival in Mumbai to the time of departure from Mumbai to Goa  being available to her to board her flight she did not do so for reasons best known to her. That her not boarding the flight from Mumbai to Goa  was due to her own negligence

17.    All the rest of the complaint filed was denied for lack of knowledge  and it was stated that the paragraphs 12 and 13 of the complaint were false and frivolous.

18.        It was also stated that  the complainant has failed to send the alleged grievance to the appropriate authority which is the guest relations department and which fact is clearly mentioned on the website of the opposite party  namely www.jetairways.com  under the caption 'terms and conditions'.

19.        That  an  interim  reply  was  sent  to  the  complainant  on  08-07-2013  seeking time as the issue raised, warranted a proper investigation. The final reply was sent on 09-10-2013 to the complainant at the same address but the same returned unclaimed on 01.11.2013. That the postal department also intimated the advocate of the complainant on 14-10-2013 but the same was not claimed by the advocate for the complainant for reasons best known to them. Reply dated 04-11-2013 was sent along with the returned envelope to the advocate at the same address.

20.         A copy of the  consignment delivery receipt from the website of the First Flight Couriers is also brought on record for our perusal.

21.        Further it was stated that the complainant is not entitled to the claim as the same is not maintainable  and prayed that the complaint be dismissed.

22.        The issue that arise for consideration therefore is  whether the complainant proves that there was a delay of 55 minutes in the arrival of the flight from Kolkata to Mumbai on 15.03.2013 and consequently  the complainant  could not avail of the onward journey by Jet Konnect  from Mumbai to Goa  as the said flight had already left Mumbai for Goa and  consequently is entitled to be refunded the sum of Rs. 7,000.00  and the sum of Rs. 4,679.00  and the costs as claimed by the complainant?

23.       We have perused the records and from the records it is seen that apart from the complaint , the complainant has not produced any evidence to establish that there was a delay in the flight Kolkata to Mumbai on 15.03.2013.

24.       The complainant has also  not  brought any evidence on record to establish that  she could not avail of the Jet Konnect  flight from Mumbai to Goa  as the said flight had already left Mumbai to Goa prior to her  arrival  by the Kolkata Bombay flight.

25.       The Opposite party also has not produced any evidence  of the facts stated by them in their written version to establish that the flight landed in time on the said date and that  the  complainant did not avail of the  connecting flight for reasons best known to her.

26.        In view of the above the  issue is answered in the negative and the complaint is dismissed.

O  R  D  E  R

Complaint dismissed.

                                                               (Shri Jayant S. Prabhu)

                                                                            President

                                                   (Ms. Savita G. Kurtarker)

                                                                     Member

                                                                (Ms. Cynthia A. Colaco)

                                                                               Member