| Final Order / Judgement | DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION, BATHINDA C.C. No. 42 of 11-02-2020 Decided on : 18-11-2021 Ghanshyam Dass Goyal aged about 59 years S/o Jagan Nath Goyal R/o #20435, 12, Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar, Bathinda, Punjab 151 001. ........Complainant Versus Go Disha (godisha.in), 1/154, Ashoka Shopping Centre, Near G.T.Hospital, Mumbai 400 001 through its Managing Director .......Opposite party
Complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 QUORUM Kanwar Sandeep Singh, President Sh. Shivdev Singh, Member. Smt. Paramjeet Kaur, Member Present For the complainant : Sh. Varun Bansal, Advocate. For opposite party : Exparte ORDER Kanwar Sandeep Singh, President The complainant Ghanshyam Dass Goyal (here-in-after referred to as complainant) has filed this complaint U/s 12 of Consumer Protection Act, 1986 (Now C.P. Act, 2019, here-in after referred to as 'Act') before this Forum (Now Commission) against Go Disha, Mumbai (here-in-after referred to as opposite party). Briefly stated, the case of the complainant is that he was induced by opposite party regarding tours, trips and travels offers given by them. On 13-7-2019, opposite party sent offer to complainant for Europe trip against cost of Euro 950 + INR 69000 per adult person. Accordingly, complainant deposited Rs. 40,000/- with opposite party in advance for 4 person as token money for booking of said trip. It is alleged that on 15-7-2019, opposite party sent mail to complainant about Visa requirement details i.e. visa forms for each member for getting the same signed. The opposite party also demanded NOC regarding sanction of leave and LFC letter showing sanctioned amount on original letter head of Bank, duly stamped and signed. It is further alleged that on 17-7-2019, opposite party demanded Rs. 30,000/- per person as next installment for international flight and confirmation. Accordingly, complainant paid Rs. 1,20,000/- for 4 persons vide cheque No. 578839 dated 19-7-2019. It is pleaded that on 22-07-2019, opposite party again sent mail to complainant and further demanded Rs. 1,16,000/- on the ground that international tickets and visas are in process. Thereafter on 25-7-2019, opposite party sent mail to complainant regarding tour details and package according to package which included : - Daily Breakfast & Dinner - Return Economy Class group airfare as per itinerary - Accommodation on twin/tripple sharing basis - Cost of Visa and and Medical Insurance for the duration of the tour - Cost of Insurance till the ate 59 - All transfers and sight seeing with entrance fee by AC delux coach - Tips of Bus driver - GST - Services of a professional and multilingual speaking tour manager It is further alleged that even on 15-7-2019, opposite party sent letter to the Consulate General of France, Mumbai, regarding issuance of Tourist Visa alongwith name and list of passengers who booked the said trip with opposite party from 11-8-2019 to 21-8-2019 and the names of family members of complainant ( i.e. Ghanshyam Dass Gyal, Parveen Rani, Ravi Goyal, Mani Pal Goyal) were also included in the list. It is pleaded that on 1-8-2019, complainant sent written request with air tickets sent by opposite party, to Consulate General of France, Mumbai regarding grant of tourist visa whereas it was the responsibility of the opposite party to provide Visa as complainant paid charges for the same. It is alleged that on 6-8-2019, opposite party again sent mail to complainant informing him that his international tickets and visas are in process and requested him to pay balance amount of Rs. 4,21,520/-. The complainant alleged that on 10-8-2019, full group of said trip taken their flights as per tickets booked by opposite party and according to planned schedule but visa file of complainant was under process and no efforts were taken by opposite party in this regard. The complainant himself deposited fee of Visa i.e. 6847/- per member totaling to Rs. 27,388/-. The complainant sent mail request to visa department on 12-8-2019 and inquired about delay in tourist visa application, but to no response. It is alleged that due to negligence on the part of the opposite party, complainant missed chance to travel Erope with his group. On 29-7-2019, opposite party sent one air tickets to complainant via mail booked in the name of complainant and his family member for 11-8-2019 from Delhi to Rome and Rome to Milan and return ticket for 21-8-2019 having reservation No. AI 2373644649/23731225. It created doubt in the mind of complainant as tickets of other members of group were booked for 10-8-2019. To clear the doubt, complainant filed RTI application dated 13-10-2019 with Air India about the status of above detailed PNR number and verification to verify the genuineness of tickets issued by opposite party. On 25-10-2019 Air India sent reply to RTI application of complainant wherein they stated that the said reservation number does not exist. Even the said reservation is not in the name of complainant and his family members, Even they clarified that all the four names of complainant and his family members do not appear in the list of said day. The said tickets got issued by opposite party were fake and with fake tickets, opposite party asked the complainant to get Visa filed processed. It is pleaded that complainant sent repeated written requests to opposite party to refund the entire amount, but to no effect rather opposite party misbehaved with complainant over phone. The complainant also got issued legal notice in this regard, but to no effect. The complainant has suffered financial loss as well as harassment at the hands of the opposite party. Thus, there is deficiency in service and unfair trade practice on the part of the opposite party. On this backdrop of facts, the complainant has prayed seeking directions to the opposite party to refund entire amount of Rs. 1,60,000/- with interst + Rs. 27,388/- spent as Visa processing fee and pay him Rs. 1,00,000/- as compensation in addition to Rs. 20,000/- as cost. Upon notice, none appeared on behalf of opposite party. As such, exparte proceedings were taken against opposite party. In exparte evidence, the complainant has tendered his affidavit dated 8-2-2020 (Ex. C-1), photocopy of invoice (Ex. C-2), photocopy of e-mails (Ex. C-2 to Ex. C-4), photocopy of receipt (Ex. C-5), photocopy of e-mail (Ex. C-6), photocopy of list (Ex. C-7), photocopy of letters (Ex. C-8 & Ex. C-9), photocopy of e-mail (Ex. C-10), photocopy of ticket (Ex. C-11), photocopy of invoice (Ex. C-12), photocopy of letter (Ex. C-13), photocopy of e-mail (Ex. C-14), photocopy of ticket (Ex. C-15), photocopy of RTI application & reply (Ex. C-16 & Ex. C-17), photocopy of e-mail (Ex. C-18), photocopy of legal notice & postal receipt (Ex. C-19 & Ex. C-20) and closed the evidence. The complainant has also tendered copy of e-mail in additional evidence (Ex. C-21). We have heard learned counsel for the complainant and gone through the record. The submission of learned counsel for the complainant is that complainant and his family missed the said tour programme as opposite party failed to provide Visa whereas it was the responsibility of opposite party to get the visa issued. The complainant himself paid the Visa fee whereas it was to be paid by opposite party as it was included in tour package. Complainant could not avail the tour package, offered by opposite party due to fault of the opposite party. When no services are provided by the opposite party and could not be availed by complainant due to fault of the opposite party then complainant was not liable to pay any charges. It was the responsibility of the opposite party to get the total process completed but they failed to provide services and rather deficient in service. Moreover, complainant sought information under RTI from Air India regarding air tickets sent by opposite party as complainant was having some doubt as the date of booking of tickets of other group members were different. In reply to RTI application, Air India conveyed that those tickets were issued in some other name. So, there is gross deficiency in service on the part of the opposite party as despite charging huge amount, they failed to provide service. We have learned counsel for the complainant at length and gone through the file carefully. In nut-shell the case of the complainant is that complainant wanted to avail tour package of Europe offered by opposite party from 11-8-19 to 21-8-2019. Vide Ex. C-2 Ms. Amruta official of opposite party confirmed the booking and receipt of Rs. 40,000/- and further asked complainant to send Passport copies of first and last page, PAN card & Adhar Card of all his family members, within 2 days for processing the files. Further details were conveyed i.e Tour Cost Adust INR 69000 + Euro 950 : Registration charges Rs. 10,000/- per person; Processing charges Rs. 30,000/- per person to be paid on or before 14-7-2019; Final payment was to be paid on or before 25-7-2019. (on finalization of international tickets, visas and hotels). Thereafter vide E-mail dated 15-7-2019 (Ex. C-3) opposite party required NOC letter showing leave sanction and LFC letter showing amount sanction on original bank letter head duly signed and stamped. Vide E-mail dated 17-7-2019 (Ex.C-4), opposite party asked the complainant to send next installment of Rs. 30,000/- per person in their account and sent some flight details and accordingly, complainant transferred Rs. 1,20,000/- in the account of the opposite party on 19-7-2019 as is evident from receipt (Ex. C-5). The opposite party also sent to complainant list of group (Ex. C-8) travelling on 11-8-2019 and return on 21-8-2019 wherein name of complainant and his family members is mentioned. On 6-8-2019, opposite party again sent e-mail (Ex. C-10) to complainant vide which balance amount was again demanded on the pretext that international tickets and visas are in process. Therefore, the above detailed evidence reveals that opposite party confirmed above said tour package and complainant sent all the documents and money as demanded by opposite party from time to time, but opposite party failed to fulfill their commitment, despite charging sufficient amount and complainant could not avail the tour due to their fault. It is mentioned in e-mail dated 6-8-2021 (Ex.C-10) sent by opposite party to complainant that international tickets and visas were still in process. This fact also stands proved from e-mail (Ex. C-13) sent by complainant to Visa Office, on 12-08-2019 Delhi, requesting for issuance of Visa that till 12-8-2019, visa was not issued to complainant whereas the tour package offered by opposite party was from 11-8-2019 to 21-8-2019. It is very much clear from Ex. C-21 that final payment was to be made by complainant on finalization of international tickets, visas and hotels, but in this case, opposite party could not get issued Visas to complainant and his family members. So, the complainant and his family members could not avail this tour for which they have paid huge amount. Hence, there is deficiency in service on the part of the opposite party. The opposite party even made mis-statements regarding booking of tickets as is evident from e-mail ( Ex. C-14 & C-15) vide which opposite party conveyed to the complainant that tickets have been booked vide PNR No. 23736446-49/23731225 whereas in reply to information sought by complainant under RTI, Air India vide letter dated 25-10-2019 (Ex. C-17), conveyed that said PNR was booked on time limit, for a single passenger (with some other name) which got cancelled subsequently, without ticket being issued. Therefore, this act of the opposite party shows that opposite party not even failed to provide service against charges received by them rather tried to mislead the consumer/complainant to grasp his hard earned money. The opposite party, despite service of notice, failed to appear before this Commission to contest the case and rebut the evidence of complainant. In such circumstances, the version of the complainant has to be believed. The complainant has paid Rs. 40,000/- as is evident from e-mail (Ex. C-2) and Rs. 1,20,000/- as per receipt (C-5) sent/issued by opposite party. Therefore, complainant is held entitled to refund of the amount paid to opposite party with interest and compensation for harassment which he suffered at the hands of opposite party. A perusal of e-mail dated 25-7-2019 ( Ex. C-7) reveals that opposite party sent tour plan to complainant vide which it was conveyed that total tour package includes cost of visa. The complainant has placed on file receipt (Ex. C-12) and proved that he paid Rs. 27,388/- as visa fee for himself and for his family members. A perusal of this receipt reveals that visa fee has been paid by complainant to France Visa Application Centre, Chandigarh and not to opposite party. In such circumstances, direction for refund of Visa fee by opposite party to complainant cannot be given. Resultantly, this complaint is allowed with Rs. 10,000/- as cost and compensation against the opposite party. The opposite party is directed to refund Rs. 1,60,000/- with interest @9% P.A. to complainant from the date of deposit till payment. The compliance of this order be made within 45 days from the date of receipt of copy of this order. The complaint could not be decided within the statutory period due to heavy pendency of cases. Copy of order be sent to the parties concerned free of cost and file be consigned to the record. Announced : 18-11-2021 (Kanwar Sandeep Singh) President (Shivdev Singh) Member (Paramjeet Kaur) Member
| |
