BEFORE THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, AMRITSAR.

Consumer Complaint No. 827 of 2017

Date of Institution: 22.11.2017

Date of Decision: 26.2.2019

Mr. Robin Tuli S/o Sh. Dalip tuli R/o 112, Basant Nagar, Majitha Road, Amritsar

Complainant

Versus

Air India through its Chairman/Managing Director/Principle Officer service through its branch office at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport, Amritsar through its office Head/Principle Officer

Opposite Party

Complaint under section 12 & 13 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (as amended upto date).

Present: For the  Complainant: Sh.Deepinder Singh Advocate      

              For the Opposite Party : Sh. Bikramjit Singh Arri,Advocate      

Coram

Sh.Charanjit Singh, President

Sh.Anoop Sharma,  Member

Ms.Rachna Arora, Member.

Order dictated by:

Sh. Charanjit Singh, President

1.       Mr.Robin Tuli, complainant has brought the instant complaint under section 11 & 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 on the allegations that the complainant got booked the Air ticket from Subah Travels, Amritsar for travelling with the opposite party from New Delhi to Amritsar on 3.11.2017, as such the complainant is a consumer as provided under the Act and is competent to invoke the jurisdiction of this Forum.   On the said date the complainant reached well in time and got check in as the said flight was to take off at 5.00 hrs  but the complainant was not issued the boarding pass. Later the complainant was issued the boarding pass for travel at the time of 8.20 a.m.  and the complainant was made to board the aircraft  and later was off boarded  and made to wait till noon but no aircraft was made available for flight for the boarding pass issued for the flight to take off at 8.20 hrs. It is pertinent to mention here that the complainant is a renowned doctor and running a specialized clinical and research lab and to visit Amritsar for the urgent and important research work and can’t reach its destination as the complainant has another flight booked from Amritsar to Delhi to Gauhati at 15.25 hrs on the same day for further appointments regarding his research work. The complainant was not put on any flight by the opposite party till noon without any cogent reasons inspite of the fact that the flight was to take off at 5.00 hrs on 3.11.2017 and neither the complainant was refunded of his fare much less any compensation. The aforesaid act of the opposite party in not giving the travel services to the complainant on 3.11.2017 is an act of deficiency in service, malpractice, unfair trade practice and has caused lot of mental agony, harassment, inconvenience besides financial loss to the complainant.

2.       Upon notice, opposite party appeared and filed written version in which it was submitted that since weather in Amritsar was not good on the said date and scheduled time of the flight  as such boarding reschedule  time of the said flight, messages were already given to all the passengers on their registered mobile numbers   and accordingly, boarding passes were issued to the passengers of this flight for the scheduled time 8.20 a.m.. It was denied that the complainant had got booked another ticket from Amritsar to Delhi to Gauhati at 15.25 hrs on the same day for further appointment  regarding his research work. It was denied that the complainant was not put on any flight by the opposite party till noon without any cogent reasons. In this respect, it was submitted that the said flight on the scheduled date and time get ready for take off from Delhi to Amritsar but due to some technical failure/error in the aircraft which came to the notice of the staff of the flight and the Airport authorities, the said flight was returned back and the passengers including the complainant boarded in it were duly informed  about the fault in the aircraft and they were requested to wait for some time and the flight will be sent after removal  of the defect in the aircraft and also told that  if the fault will not be removed within a short time, then the entire passengers including the complainant will be sent from  Delhi to Amritsar by way of making suitable arrangement in the other flight. But the complainant openly stated that he was not ready to wait for any time and deboarded the plain . It is worth mentioning here that the technical fault in the said flight in question was removed and accordingly, it was sent to 1.15 ;p.m and reached Amritsar  but the complainant did not board this flight . As such the complainant is not entitled to any refund of ticket price or any kind of compensation. While denying and controverting other allegations, dismissal of complaint was prayed.

3.       In his bid to prove the case Sh.Deepinder Singh,Adv.counsel for the complainant tendered into evidence affidavit of the complainant Ex.C-1, copy of air tickets Ex.C-2 and Ex.C-3, copy of check in sticker Ex.C-4, copy of boarding pass Ex.C-5 and closed the evidence on behalf of the complainant.

4.       To rebut the aforesaid evidrnce Sh.B.S.Arri,Adv.counsel for the opposite party tendered into evidence affidavit of sh.Ashok Singh, Station Manager Ex.OP1, copy of refusal of the complainant to wait for flight Ex.OP2 and closed the evidence on behalf of the opposite party.

5.       We have heard the Ld.counsel for the parties and have carefully gone through the record on the file.

6.       From the appraisal of the evidence on record and from the appreciation of the facts and circumstances of the case, it becomes evident that the complainant got booked air ticket with the opposite party from New Delhi to Amritsar on 3.11.2017, copy of air ticket is Ex.C-2 on record.  It was the case of the complainant that he reached the Airport well in time as the flight was to take off at 5.00 hrs but the opposite party issued boarding pass for travel at the time of 8.20 a.m. Whereas the complainant has another flight booked from Amritsar to Delhi to Gauhati at 15.25 hrs on the same day . But till the noon of 3.11.2017 the complainant was not put on any flight neither the opposite party refunded the air fare to the complainant.

7.       On the other hand the plea of the opposite party is that due to bad weather in Amritsar the flight was rescheduled  and in this regard messages were given to all the passengers . The other plea of the opposite party is due to some technical error in the aircraft  the said flight was returned back and the passengers including the complainant boarded in it                                    were duly informed about the defect and they were requested to wait for some time and if the defect will not be removed , the entire passengers including the complainant will be sent from Delhi to Amritsar by way of making suitable arrangement in the other flight. But the complainant was not ready to wait for any time and deboarded the plain.

8.       From the appreciation of the facts and circumstances of the case, it becomes evident that the opposite party has taken two different stand firstly by stating that due to bad weather in Amritsar the flight was rescheduled and  the passengers including the complainant were duly informed on their registered mobile number. But no such evidence has been placed on record that the complainant alongwith other passengers were informed regarding reschedule of the flight which was to fly at 5.00 hrs on 3.11.2017. The second plea of the opposite party is that  due to technical error the flight was returned back  and the complainant alongwith other passengers were duly informed about the defect and they were requested to wait for some time and if the defect will not be removed , the entire passengers including the complainant will be sent from Delhi to Amritsar by way of making suitable arrangement in the other flight.  However, no such evidence has also been placed on record vide which the complainant alongwith other passengers were informed to wait for some time and the opposite party made any alternative arrangements for the passengers for sending back from Delhi to Amritsar. But however, the complainant has no other alternative but to reach Amritsar on time as he has another flight at 15.25 hrs from Amritsar to Delhi to Gauhati, copy of Air ticket is Ex.C3 on record. As admitted by the opposite party the complainant has not availed the services of the opposite party and rather harassed due to the fault of the opposite party, as such the complainant is entitled to refund of the air fare charges to the tune of Rs. 6000/-   .

9.       Consequently, we allow the complaint with costs and the opposite party is directed to refund Rs. 6000/- as price of the air ticket   . Opposite party is also directed to pay compensation to the tune of Rs. 5000/- while litigation expenses are assessed at Rs. 3000/-. Compliance of the order be made within  30 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order ; failing which complainant shall be entitled to interest @ 9% p.a. on Rs. 6000/- from the date of filing of the complaint till payment is made to the complainant.. Copy of order be supplied to the parties free of costs as per rules. File be consigned to record room.

Announced in Open Forum

Dated: 26.02.2019