The Managing Director, Make My Trip India Private Limited V/S Dr. Angan Roy - Consumer Court Case

Haryana

Karnal

CC/28/2019

Dr. Angan Roy - Complainant(s)

Versus

The Managing Director, Make My Trip India Private Limited - Opp.Party(s)

Ranbir Singh

06 Jan 2020

ORDER

BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM KARNAL.

Complaint No. 28 of 2019

Date of instt.22.01.2018

Date of Decision 06.01.2020.

Dr. Angan Roy, G-002, Palm Residency, Sector-35, Karnal (Haryana).

…….Complainant.

Versus

1. The Managing Director, make my Trip India Pvt. Ltd. DLF Building no.5, Tower-B, DLF Cyber City, DLF Phase-2, Sector -25, Gurgaon (Haryana).

2. The Managing Director, Go Airlines (India) Ltd.

Terminal-2, IGI Airport, New Delhi-110037 (India)

…..Opposite Parties.

Complaint u/s 12 of the Consumer Protection Act.

Before Sh. Jaswant Singh……President.

Sh. Vineet Kaushik……Member

Dr. Rekha Chaudhary…….Member

Present: Shri Tejveer Singh Advocate for complainant.

Shri Apar Singh Bedi Advocate for opposite party no.1.

Shri Manish Sagar Advocate for opposite party no.2.’

(Jaswant Singh President)

ORDER:

This complaint has been filed by the complainant u/s 12 of the Consumer Protection Act 1986 on the averments that on 25.06.2018, the complainant was travelling from Srinagar to Delhi through Go Air Flight G-8 129 of OP no.2 the complainant was having three checked luggage and the same were handed over to the officials of OP no.2 at the time of boarding of flight of OP no.2. The complainant reached at Delhi Airport and alighted from the flight of OP no.2, the officials of OP no.2 only hand over two luggages to the complainant but the third luggage containing a very precious Kashmiri handmade carpet was not handed over. The said carpet was of very good quality and the value of the carpet was more than Rs.1,75,000/-. The luggage tag of GoAir is G8-0879061948 and as per the invoice, the value of the carpet is Rs.1,75,000/-. The complainant booked the above three luggage including the missing luggage through OP no.1 and as such both OPs are jointly and severally responsible for the loss of luggage and are liable to pay the costs and expenses of the missing luggage. After reaching at Delhi, the complainant made a complaint through e-mail regarding the missing of the third luggage containing the carpet. The OP no.2 registered the complaint of the complainant and after several follow up telephonic calls and emails, the complainant received reply from OP no.2 for the first time on 9^th July and OPs have only agreed to pay Rs.4000/-, which is totally illegal and arbitrary on the part of the OP no.2. The OP no.2 has also regretted for the loss of luggage and OPs have offered only Rs.4000/-. The complainant is entitled to receive the costs of the carpet which is Rs.1,75,000/- but OPs have not admitted the claim of the complainant. The loss of luggage is on account of deficiency in service on the part of the OPs and all the OPs are jointly and severally liable to the cost of the carpet and Rs.50,000/- as compensation for mental tension and harassment etc. The complainant sent a legal notice through his counsel to make the payment of cost of carpet but it also did not yield any result. In this way there was deficiency in service on the part of the OPs. Hence complainant filed the present complaint.

2. Notice of the complaint was given to the OPs, OP no.1 appeared and filed written version raising preliminary objections with regard to cause of action; territorial jurisdiction and concealment of true and material facts. On merits, it is pleaded in that OP no.1 is a company duly incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 and enjoys immense goodwill and reputation for providing superlative services to thousands of the consumers. Besides other accolades bestowed upon and recognitions awarded to the OP no.1, it has also been awarded as Best Travel Portal India by World Travel Awards, indicating the highest customer satisfaction and a fundamentally strong position in the industry. It is further pleaded that OP no.1 is a consumer centric company, which is managed through online webportal. The OP no.1 provides all the travel related first class services and information to its customers but not limited to air ticketing, railways ticketing, bus booking, hotel bookings at very competitive prices. It is further pleaded that OP no.1 acts as merely a facilitator for booking the confirmed air tickets/hotel booking on behalf of its customers with the concerned service providers. OP no.1, upon the request received from its customer, forwards the same to the concerned Airlines/service providers and upon receiving the confirmation form concerned service providers the Booking ID is generated and confirmed bookings/tickets is shared with the customer. It is further pleaded that all the online transactions by the user of the website of the OP no.1 i.e.

3. OP no.2 filed its separate written version raising preliminary objections with regard to maintainability. On merits, it is pleaded that on 25.06.2018 complainant is travelling in GoAir flight G8-129 from Srinagar to New Delhi with three checked luggage. However, it is wrong to allege that one lost luggage was containing carpet of more than of Rs.1,75,000/-The luggage alleged to be lost was not handed over to the Airlines with the declaration of containing Kashmiri Hand Made Carpet worth Rs.1,75,000/- and no invoice was given by complainant to OP no.2. It is wrong to allege that any luggage containing the kashmiri handmade carpet was ever lost in the said flight. It is further pleaded that the liability of the OP no.2 is not unlimited and as per citizen’s charter, the OP no.2 liability for loss of baggage is limited to Rs.200/- per KG upto maximum of Rs.4000/- whichever is higher and the OP no.2 has already offered a sum of Rs.4000/- to complainant, vide its email dated 09.07.2018 being a bonafide service provider. There is no deficiency in service on the part of the OP no.2. The other allegations made in the complaint have been denied and prayed for dismissal of the complaint

4. Complainant tendered into evidence his affidavit Ex.C1 and documents Ex.C2 to Ex.C4 and closed the evidence on 25.07.2019.

5. On the other hand, OP no.1 tendered into evidence affidavit of Ekank Mehra Ex.OP1/A and document Ex.OP1 and closed the evidence on 18.09.2019.

6. OP no.2 tendered into evidence affidavit of Vishal Mathur Ex.RW1/A and documents Ex.R2 and Ex.R3 and closed the evidence on 05.11.2019.

7. We have heard the learned counsel of both the parties and perused the case file carefully and have also gone through the evidence led by the parties.

8. The case of the complainant, in brief, is that on 25.06.2018, the complainant was travelling from Srinagar to Delhi through Go Air Flight G-8 129 of OP no.2 the complainant was having three checked luggage and the same were handed over to the officials of OP no.2 at the time of boarding of flight of OP no.2. The complainant reached at Delhi Airport and alighted from the flight of OP no.2, the officials of OP no.2 only handed over two luggages to the complainant but the third luggage containing a very precious Kashmiri handmade carpet was not handed over. The said carpet was of very good quality and the value of the carpet was more than Rs.1,75,000/-. The complainant booked the above three luggage including the missing luggage through OP no.1 and as such both OPs are jointly and severally responsible for the loss of luggage and are liable to pay the costs and expenses of the missing luggage.

9. On the other hand, the case of the OP no.1, in brief, is that OP no.1 acts as merely a facilitator for booking the confirmed air tickets/hotel booking on behalf of its customers with the concerned service providers. OP no.1, upon the request received from its customer, forwards the same to the concerned Airlines/service providers and upon receiving the confirmation form concerned service providers the Booking ID is generated and confirmed bookings/tickets is shared with the customer. All the online transactions by the user of the website of the OP no.1. OP no.1 is not responsible or liable for any loss of baggage of its customer during travel, it is the sole responsibility of concerned airlines.

10. The case of the OP no.2, in brief, is that on 25.06.2018 complainant is travelling in GoAir flight G8-129 from Srinagar to New Delhi with three checked luggage. It is denied that one lost luggage was containing carpet of more than of Rs.1,75,000/-. The luggage alleged to be lost was not handed over to the Airlines with the declaration of containing Kashmiri Hand Made Carpet worth Rs.1,75,000/- and no invoice was given by complainant to OP no.2. It is denied that any luggage containing the kashmiri handmade carpet was ever lost in the said flight. The liability of the OP no.2 is not unlimited and as per citizen’s charter, the OP no.2 liability for loss of baggage is limited to Rs.200/- per KG upto maximum of Rs.4000/- whichever is higher and the OP no.2 has already offered a sum of Rs.4000/-.

11. Admittedly, on 25.06.2018, the complainant was travelling from Srinagar to Delhi through GoAir flight G8-129 of OP no.2. As per the version of the complainant, he was having three checked luggage and the same were handed over to the officials of the OP no.2 at the time of boarding of flight. The complainant reached at Delhi Airport and alighted from the flight but the officials of the OP no.2 only handed over two luggage to the complainant and third luggage containing a very precious Kashmiri handmade carpet amounting to Rs.1,75,000/-was not handed over to him. Complainant immediately reported the matter to the official of OP no.2 but they only ready to pay Rs.4000/- instead of Rs.1,75,000/-.

12. On the other hand, as per version of the OP no.2 that lost luggage was not containing the carpet of Rs.1,75,000/-. The luggage alleged to be lost was not handed over to the Airlines with the declaration of containing Kashmiri Handmade carpet worth of Rs.1,75,000/-. The complainant neither declared the contents of the luggage nor gave any bill to the OP no.2 to establish that carpet was contained in the luggage and was of value of Rs.1,75,000/-. However, as per citizen’s charter, the GoAir’s liability for loss of baggage is limited to Rs.200/- per Kg upto maximum of Rs.4000/- whichever is higher and the OP no.2 has already offered a sum of Rs.4000/- to the complainant, vide its mail dated 09.07.2018.

13. It has been proved from the bill dated 22.06.2018 Ex.C2 that the complainant has purchased the silk carpet from Omer Shawls, Government Housing Colony Ellahi Bagh, Buchpora, Srinagar, Kashmir, for an amount of Rs.1,75,000/-. The fact that he has come from Srinagar to Delhi on 25.06.2018, is proved from the boarding pass Ex.C3. The fact that the carpet bag was lost after alightening the flight by the complainant at Delhi Airport is proved from Ex.C4 i.e. Properly Irregularity Report (PIR) wherein it has been specifically mentioned that only two luggage bags were handed over instead of three bags.

14. The OP no.1 is Make My Trip (India) Private Limited who has arranged the Air-ticket of the complainant and nothing else, therefore, he has no liability for loss of bag of the complainant.