DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM,
PATIALA.
Complaint No. CC/15/261 of 4.11.2015
Decided on: 21.12.2016
- Krishan Kaur wife of S.Nachhattar Singh
- Nachhattar Singh son of Late Sh.Dayal Singh, both residents of Village Khansa, Post Office Ahru Kalan, Tehsil & District Patiala.
…………...Complainants
Versus
- Worldwide Immigration Consultancy, Services Ltd. (WWICS Ltd.) Branch Office: SCO 11, Above Spice Office, Leela Bhawan, Patiala, Punjab, India through its Branch Manager.
- Worldwide Immigration Consultancy ,Services Ltd., (WWICS Ltd.) Head Office: A-12, Industrial Area, Phase-6,Mohali-160055, Punjab , India through its Managing Director (South East Asia Operations)
- Akshay Sharma, Territory Manager, Business Immigration, Worldwide Immigration Consultancy, Services Ltd.(WWICS Ltd.)Branch Office : SCO 11, Above Spice Office, Leela Bhawan, Patiala.
…………….Ops
Complaint under Section 12 of the
Consumer Protection Act.1986
QUORUM
Smt.Neena Sandhu, President
Smt.Neelam Gupta, Member
ARGUED BY
Sh.D.S.Behgal, Advocate counsel for the complainants.
Sh. S.S.Sidhu, Advocte, counsel for O.Ps
SMT.NEENA SANDHU, PRESIDENT
ORDER
Smt Krishan Kaur & Sh.Nachhattar Singh have filed this complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act,1986 (hereinafter referred to as the Act) against the opposite parties (hereinafter referred to as the O.Ps.) praying for issuance of the following directions to them:-
- To return the amount i.e.18000 US Dollars (18000 x 64-66 then fluctuate dollar rate) totaling Rs.11,50,000/- + Rs.50,662/- i.e. separate file charges of Nachhattar Singh + Rs.18600/- i.e. expenses for the tourist Visa + Rs.25000/- retained by the O.Ps. from the amount paid in 3000 Canadian Dollar + Rs.20000/- i.e. expenses incurred on the arrangement of documents totaling Rs.12,64,000/-approx. alongwith interest @ 18% p.a. and to return the documents received by the O.Ps.
- To pay Rs.5,00,000/- as compensation
- To pay Rs.11,000/- as litigations expenses
- To award any other relief, which this Forum may deem fit.
2. In brief, the case of the complainants is that the O.Ps. being the World’s largest Global Resettlement Solutions Company, they approached Op no.1, in the last week of June, 2013 with regard to preparation and submission of their immigration, in the category of business immigration for whole family as they want to purchase property in Canada for doing the business. O.P. No.3 being the Territory Manager of the O.Ps. drafted rough estimate and explained the full procedure to them. The O.Ps. demanded 32000 US $ (Lump sum) as processing fee for the submission of the file, which was settled at 22000 US $, out of which 18000 US $ were to be paid before arrival of the visa step by step and the remaining 4000 US $ were to be paid after arrival of the visa in one installment.
On 31.7.2013, a cheque bearing No.487534 for an amount of Rs.2,02,248/- was deposited by them in favour of WWICS for staring the process and a scheme namely ‘Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program’ was explained to them for submission of the documents..On 14.8.2013 an amount of Rs.33,700/- was paid by them to the O.P. The complainants time and again visited the O.P. No.1 to know about the status of file, it was explained to them that the above said scheme has been wound up by the Canadian Immigration and assured them to initiate the process in the new scheme i.e. British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program and prepared a rough estimate for the amount to be paid by them. On 13.9.2013 demanded some as initial processing fees. On 13.9.2013, they paid Rs.1,68,540 through cheque bearing No.487537 dated 13.9.2013 in favour of WWICS. O.Ps assured them that the amount received by their department for applying in the last scheme will be adjusted lateron as fee for the newly applied scheme. The remaining amount of the processing fee was also paid by them in Indian Rupees i.e. Rs.3,35,985/- through cheque no.487538 dated 25.9.2013, in the name of Global Strategic Business Consultancy. On 23.10.2013 out of the settled amount, they paid Rs.25000/- in cash to the O.P. and the remaining amount of Rs.4500/- was deposited in the account of O.P.No.3. On 22.11.2013 , on the asking of the O.Ps. they deposited Rs.1,89,000/- in the account of Op no.3, as the processing fees of Canadian High Commissioner. They also provided all the demanded documents to the O.Ps. On 13.8.2014, on the demand of the O.Ps., vide cheque No.470374 dated 13.8.2014, they paid Rs.3,73,160/- i.e. 6010 US $ as remaining part of processing fee. An amount of Rs.50,662/- vide cheque No.470372 dated 13.8.2014 in the name of WWICS Ltd. was also paid by them for the file of Sh.Nachhattar Singh. They also paid Rs.18,600/- to the O.Ps. for tourist visa. They time and again visited the O.Ps. to know about the Visa but the O.Ps. lingered on the matter and ultimately in the month of September,2014, explained that their tourist visa has been rejected. The O.Ps. instead of Rs.1,89,000/-, refunded Rs.1,64,476,17p through cheque No.005794 dated 27.10.2014 drawn on HDFC Bank, Branch Leela Bhawan Market, Patiala and illegally grabbed Rs.25000/- approx. They also borne expenditure on account of land valuation to the tune of Rs.6000/-, CA report , to the tune of Rs.7000/-, Jamabandi expenses , to the tune of Rs.2000/-, other misc. expenses to the tune of Rs.5000/-, totaling Rs.20,000/-. They also suffered monetary loss to the tune of Rs.12,64,000/-. They also wrote a letter dated 3.6.2015 for the refund of the amount. A legal notice dated 6.10.2015 was also got served upon the O.Ps. but to no effect. Thus, there is deficiency of service and unfair trade practice on the part of the O.Ps. which caused inconvenience, mental agony, harassment, humiliation and mental tension to them. Hence this complaint.
3. On being put to the notice, O.Ps. No.1&2 appeared and filed the written version, taking preliminary objections that; the present complaint is liable to be dismissed; that there is no deficiency in service on the part of O.Ps. No.1&2 and that this Hon’ble Forum does not have the jurisdiction to deal with the present complaint. On merits, it is admitted that they are engaged in the business of providing services of immigration and publicized themselves as World’s Largest Global Resettlement Solutions Company. It is also admitted that the complainants have entered into a contract dated 6.8.2013 for obtaining the Nomination Certificate under the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program and had agreed to pay an amount of Rs.1,80,000/-(plus Service Tax of Rs.22,248/-) total Rs.2,02,248/-. It is admitted that the complainants had entered into another contract dated 1.8.2013 for grant of permanent visa on the basis of the Nomination Certificate and had agreed to pay an amount of Rs.30,000/-(plus Service Tax of Rs.3708/-) total Rs.33,708/-.It is admitted that the complainants had entered into another contract dated 31.8.2013 for grant of permanent visa on the basis of Nomination Certificate under BC-PNP and agreed to pay an amount of Rs,1,50,000/-( plus Service Tax of Rs.18,540/-) total Rs.1,68,540/-.It is admitted that the complainants have entered into contract dated 15.5.2014 with M/s GSBC, Dubai and agreed to pay an amount of US $ 5097. It is admitted that 3000 Canadian Dollar were paid by the complainants towards the processing fee to the Ministery of Finance, Canada, which has already been refunded to the complainant as adjusted by the company. It is stated that only 6000 US $ were paid by the complainants towards the fee of M/s GSBC, Dubai, making the total payment as US $ 11907(US $ 5097 + US $ 6000) out of the settled amount of US $ 18000. It is admitted that for the Tourist Visa of Nachhatar Singh, the complainants entered into contract dated 13.8.2014 and agreed to pay an amount of Rs.45,000/-(Plus Service Tax of Rs.5662/-) total Rs.50,662/-. It is stated that the application for grant of visa was refused vide letter dated 19.9.2014 by the Visa Officer on the following ground:
“You have not satisfied me that you would leave Canada at the end of your stay as a temporary resident”.
The grant of Visa is purely within the domain of the Visa Officer. The case of the complainant was rejected for grant of Tourist Visa and the entire fee is non-refundable. Thus, there is no deficiency of service or unfair trade practice on the part of the O.Ps. After denouncing all other averments made in the complaint, it is prayed to dismiss the complaint.
4. In support their complaint, the ld. counsel for the complainant tendered in evidence Ex.CA affidavit of the complainant Krishan Kaur, alongwith documents Exs.C1 to C-24 and closed the evidence. On the other hand, the ld. Counsel for the Ops tendered in evidence Ex.OPA affidavit of Sh.Rajiv Bajaj, authorized representative of the OP alongwith documents Exs.OP1 to OP10 and closed the evidence of the Ops.
5. We have heard the Ld. counsel for the parties and have also gone through the record of the case, carefully including written arguments filed by the learned counsel for the O.ps.
6. From the perusal of rejection letters dated 19.9.2014, Ex.C17 & Ex.C18, it is evident that the visa has been rejected on the ground that complainants do not meet the requirements for a temporary resident visa, meaning thereby Smt. Krishan i.e. complainant No.1 was ineligible to get the permanent immigration to Canada, the purpose for which, she had hired the services of the O.Ps. and had paid a huge amount and also provided the requisite documents to the O.Ps. But even then the ops submitted her file to the Canadian Embassy, as a result, the visa officer refused to grant her even a visitor visa, the pre condition to get the immigration to Canada under the scheme. Had the O.ps. after considering the status of the complainants and the documents produced by them thoroughly told them that complainant No.1 could not meet the requirement to get the permanent immigration visa for Canada, then she could not have spent huge amount for the said purpose and the complainant No.2 could have not applied for the tourist visa. It is not out of place to mention here that during the pendency of the present complaint, the O.Ps. have handed over a cheque of Rs.75,000/- and cheque of 9000 US $ to the complainant No.1. No reason whatsoever was given by the O.Ps. as to why they have refunded the said amount to the complainant No.1, which clearly shows that the O.Ps. were guilty of not rendering the proper services to the complainants especially in the case of complainant No.1 and that is why they have refunded the said amount to the complainant No.1. Since, the O.Ps. were deficient in providing services to the complainant, therefore, complainants are entitled for refund of the entire amount paid to WWICS, with which the complainant No.1 firstly entered into a contract and to Global Strategic Business Consultancy, with which complainant No.1 had entered into contract on the asking of the O.Ps and also entitled to get refund of the amount paid to the O.Ps. by the complainant No.2 on account of grant of tourist visa, minus the amount already refunded by O.Ps to the complainant No.1. It may be stated that since the O.P. No.3 was working in the capacity of territory manager with the O.P. No.1 and he was dealing with the complainants on the asking of the O.P. Nos.1 & 2, therefore, no liability can be fastened upon him in his personal capacity and the complaint filed against it is liable to be dismiss.
7. In view of the aforesaid discussion, we dismiss the complaint against the O.P. No.3 and allow the same against the O.Ps. 1 & 2 and they are directed in the following manner:-
1. To refund the amount received from the complainants, minus the amount already refunded along with interest @ 7% per annum from the date of filing of complaint till realization.
2. To pay Rs.10,000/- as compensation on account of mental agony and physical harassment.
3. To pay Rs.5000/- as cost of litigation.
8. The certified copies of this order be supplied to the parties forthwith, free of costs, as permissible under the rules and the file be indexed & consigned to the Record Room.
Pronounced
Dated:21.12 .2016
Neelam Gupta Neena Sandhu
Member President
