OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM, KAMRUP,GUWAHATI
C.C.5/2011
Present:-
1)Md.Sahadat Hussain, A.J.S. - President
2)Smti Archana Deka Lahkar - Member
1) Mr.Ganesh Tamuli -Complainant
S/O Late Nabin Ch.Tamuli,
2) Mrs.Bidya Tamuli
W/O Mr.Ganesh Tamuli
3) Mr.Hrishikesh Tamuli
Son of Mr.Ganesh Tamuli
4) Miss Gayatree Tamuli
Daughter of Mr.Ganesh Tamuli
All are residents of Senapati Path, East,
House No.41, Silpukhuri
Guwahati-781003
-vs-
1) Spicejet Ltd. -Opp.parties
319,Udyog Vihar,
Phase iv,Gurgaoh, Haryana, India.
Represented by its Chairman
2) The Chief Executive Officer,
Spicejet Ltd.
319,Udyog Vihar,
Phase iv,Gurgaoh, Haryana, India.
3) The Airport Manager
Spicejet Ltd.,LGB Airport,Guwahati.
Guwahati.
Appearance-
Learned advocates for the complainant- Ms.Sumitra Sarma
Date of argument- 12.7.17.
Date of judgment- 27.7.17.
EXPARTE JUDGMENT
This is a complaint u/s 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
1) The complaint filed by Mr. Ganesh Tamuli, Mrs. Bidya Tamuli, Mr.Hrishikesh Tamuli, Ms.Gayetree Tamuli against SpiceJet ltd. and two others was admitted on 12.1.11 and notices was served upon them and they also filed their written statement. After filing the written statement, the complainant side filed affidavit of Sri Ganesh Tamuli as their witness on 5.11.11, but at the stage of cross examination of complainant side witness i.e. on 2.1.13, 5.3.13, 31.10.13, 2.5.14, 11.3.15, 20.6.15 and in all subsequent dates the opp.parties are found absent without step and accordingly this forum vide order dtd. 5.4.16 directed that the case against the opp.parties will proceed on exparte . The complainant side has already filed their evidence on 5.11.11, after passing the exparte order against the opp.parties . The complainant side Ld.counsels filed written argument on 19.1.17 and on 12.7.17 we heard oral exparte argument of Ld.advocate Ms.Sumitra Sarma and her colleague counsels and today we deliver the judgment which is as follows-
2) The brief case of the complainant is that on 20.11.2010 complainant No.1 purchased four air tickets for himself and other three complainants, who are his wife, son and daughter to travel in Flight No.SG874 of SpiceJet Flight, an aircraft of SpiceJet Ltd. from Guwahati to Mumbai on 24.12.10 of which aircraft would have to depart from Guwahati Airport at 14-30 hrs. to Mumbai which was scheduled to arrive Mumbai at 20-45 hrs, and accordingly they proceeded to LGB Airport, Guwahati, but caught for traffic jam in Panbazar in the front of Sukleswar Temple on account of road improvement carried out by the authorities concerned, and they arrived the counter of Opp.Party No.1 at LGB Airport at 14-00 hrs and reported there and the staff of Opp.Party No.1 also recorded that they reported at 14-00 hrs. Inspite of delay by more than one hour by the said flight in taking off, they were denied boarding of the said flight on that day merely on the technical ground that they were 50 minutes behind the arrival time. The said aircraft landed at LGB Airport beyond time of departure at around 3-10 p.m.. They were denied boarding in the said aircraft in spite of being allotted their respective seat number 10C, 10B, 10E and 10D in the said aircraft, the opp.parties made no effort to contact them at or after 1-45 p.m. inspite of fact that Opp.Party No.1 has their mobile number vide No. 94350-44849 but they deliberately chose to forget obligation and also deliberately denied them their legitimate right to board in the said flight for ulterior purposes. The allotted seats to them in the said flight were not allotted to any one on that day and the aircraft left airport beyond scheduled time and departed at 3-45 p.m. while they arrived LGB Airport the counter of the opp.parties was not closed. Being compelled they made all arrangement relating to their accommodation in Mumbai and other places like Bhubaneswar, Puri etc. and also their return tickets a month ahead of the scheduled departure and on that day they being compelled purchased four tickets in another flight of Opp.Party No.1 (Flight No. SG894) for travelling from Guwahati to Mumbai via Delhi and the said flight left Guwahati at 6-10 p.m., which was scheduled to arrive at Mumbai at 11-30 p.m. and they themselves borne the cost of the ticket which is Rs.35,796. Flight No. SG894 left Guwahati at 19-30 hrs.( one hour 20 minutes behind schedule time) and reached New Delhi at 22-00 hrs and all the passengers including themselves was compelled to seat inside the aircraft at the airport of New Delhi from 22-00 hrs (24.12.10) to 1.00 hrs on 25.12.12. at Delhi airport, and the delay of three hours at New Delhi airport was occasioned by non availability of pilot as stated by Opp.party No.1- initially various other reasons for delay in departure from New Delhi had been given by opp.parties and all the passengers of the flight were not allowed to move out of aircraft, nor were provided food and drink during this delay hours, and they were stranded over three hours without food and water in the middle of the night, and finally the said flight reached Mumbai at 3.00 hrs of 25.12.10 . The deliberate and arbitrary act on the part of opp.parties compelled the complainants to purchase tickets again at the cost of Rs.35,795, and such acts on their parts is an act of deficiency of service towards them. The delay in reaching LGB Airport for unusual traffic jam is inconsequential in comparison to delay faced by the complainant and the harassment faced by them due to the laches on the part of the opp.party in delaying them in Guwahati till about at 19-30 hrs (one hour 20 minutes beyond the scheduled time of departure of flight No. SG 984 ) from Guwahati and at New Delhi for three hours and also for denying for boarding on SG874 on 24.12.10 evidently for extracting Rs.35,796/- from them and for such deficiency of service they pray for directing the opp.parties to pay them Rs. 5,00,000/- as compensation for deficiency in service at Guwahati and Rs.5,00,000/- as compensation for causing harassment at Delhi Airport and Rs.2,00,000/- as cost of the proceeding.
3) We have perused the complaint as well as the evidence adduced by the complainant side. From Ex.1, it appears to us that complainant No.1 Sri Ganesh Tamuli purchased tickets for himself and for his wife (Bidya Tamuli), his son (Hrishikesh Tamuli) and his daughter (Gayetree Tamuli) for travelling from Guwahati to Mumbai paying Rs.35,796/- in Flight No. SG874, SpiceJet (Aircraft of Opp.Party No.1-SpiceJet Ltd.) and the schedule of journey was 24th Dec.2010 and the said Aircraft was scheduled to depart Guwahati Airport (L.G.B.air port) at 14-30 hrs. and reach Mumbai at 20-45 hrs. The complainant states in their complaint that they arrived the counter of Opp.Party No.1 at LGB Airport on that day on 14-00 hrs because they caught in traffic jam at Panbazar on that day. It is known to all that Traffic jam in Guwahati is a common feature and the passengers of vehicles cannot forecast traffic jam and it may arise suddenly sometime. So , this common feature in Guwahati makes us to believe that on 24.12.10 while the complainant are travelling towards LGB Airport , they suddenly caught in traffic jam at Panbazar and that caused delay in their arrival at LGB Airport. From Ex.1, the ticket, it is found that the counter staff of opp.parties at LGB Airport recorded a note on the body of the said ticket that the complainant reported their counter at 14.00 hrs. Thus, it is established that the complainant had arrived the counter of Opp.Party No.1 at LGB Airport on Guwahati on 24.12.12. at 2 p.m. (14.00 hrs.) to prior to arrival of the flight No. SG874 of the opp.party, which was scheduled to arrive Guwahati at 2.30 p.m.. So, it is crystal clear that the Opp.Party No.1 side got 30 minutes to put the complainants in the said flight, but they did not do it . From Ex.1, it is also seen that the counters at Airport are generally closed 45 minutes before departure of the flight. Thus, it is seen that the complainant delayed 15 minutes only in arriving the counter of the Opp.Party No.1. The complainant in their complaint and C.W.1 in his evidence states that on that day the flight No. SG 874 where the complainants were scheduled to travel from Guwahati to Mumbai have not left Guwahati Airport in schedule time (14.30 hrs.) , but it had left LGB Airport at 15.45 hrs. (3.45 p.m.) i.e. delaying one hour five minutes. This statement of the complainants is believable . Having that fact believed, it is found that the gap between arrival of the complainants at the counter of Opp.Party No.1 at LGB Airport and the take off of the said flight was one hour 45 minutes. Thus, it is clear that the complainants arrived the LGB Airport one hour 45 minutes before departure of the said flight, meaning thereby that arrived the counter of the Opp.Party No.1 before one hour of closer time of the counter of Opp.Party No.1 which is generally closed 45 minutes before departure of the time. It is found that Opp.Party no.1, evenafter finding one hour time before scheduled closer of the counter did not allow the complainants to board the said flight ,but said flight left the airport after one hour 45 minutes of their arrival at the counter of Opp.Party No.1. Thus, it is crystal clear that the opp.parties staff at LGB Airport on 24.12.2010 arbitrarily debarred the complainant to board their flight –SG874 although they have confirm tickets to travel in the said flight to Mumbai through Delhi. So, we hold that it is an act of deficiency of service towards the complainants.
i) The complainant side further states that the opp.party side did not make arrangement for travelling in their second flight to Mumbai on the strength of the tickets in their hands and as a result, they became compelled to purchase another tickets for travelling from Guwahati to Mumbai in the second flight of the opp.party which is Flight No.SG 894 by paying an additional cost of Rs.35,796/-. We have perused Ex.4, which is ticket of the second flight of the opp.party (Flight No. SG894) by paying Rs. 59,912/-, while the price of the ticket of flight No. SG874 which is Rs.24,116/- was adjusted and the remaining amount of Rs.35,796/- was paid by the complainants. It is found that the complainants became compelled to travel to Mumbai in Flight No. SG 894, which was the second flight of the opp.party as the opp.parties arbitrarily debarred the complainants to board the flight No. SG874(the 1st flight) and also compelled them to purchase the ticket of their second flight –SG894, it must be said that, for their fault, the complainant had to pay another amount of Rs.35,796/- in purchasing the ticket for the second flight after adjusting the price of the tickets of flight No. SG874, which is Rs.24,116. Therefore, we hold that the opp.parties are liable to refund that amount (RS.35,796/- ) to the complainants.
4) The complainants had to travel in the second flight due to fault on the part of the opp.parties. The complainants also stated that while the flight No. SG 894 ( the second flight of the opp.party), in which, they were travelling to Mumbai through Delhi, after landing at Delhi delayed three hours at Delhi and all the passengers including the complainants who were travelling to Mumbai in the said flight, were compelled to stay back inside the said aircraft for three hours without allowing them to get down, and they were also not served any food and refreshment items during that period. Thus, it is clear that the opp.parties harassed the complainant at Delhi airport also by keeping them in the aircraft for three hours without food and other refreshment materials . Secondly, the said aircraft arrived at Mumbai at about 1.00 hour of 25.12.10, which is signifying that due to fault of the opp.parties , the complainants had to stay at Guwahati airport for about three hours and at Delhi airport for another three hours . So, this detentions of the complainants amounts to causing in harassment to the complainant by the opp.parties, and therefore,
for such harassment opp.parties are liable to pay proper compensation to the complainant.
5) It is also found that the complainants had to spent certain amount in prosecuting the opp.parties in this forum. Therefore, we hold that the opp.parties are liable to pay the cost of the proceeding.
6) Closing up our discussion as above, we hold that the opp.parties committed deficiency of service towards the complainants on 24.12.10 by debarring them to board the Flight No. SG874 for travelling from Guwahati to Mumbai, although they had confirmed tickets, in arbitrarily manner and by causing harassment to them by way of compelling them to wait at LGB airport , Guwahati for three hours as well as in the aircraft SG894 in Delhi airport for another three hours without food and refreshment facility, and also compelled them to bear the cost of this proceeding.
7) Because of what has been discussed as above, we hold that the complaint has merit. Accordingly, the complaint against all three opp.parties is allowed on exparte and they are directed to refund Rs.35,796/-, which the complainants had to pay to them as additional amount in purchasing tickets to travel in flight No. SG894, with interest @ 12% from the day of filing this complaint (12.1.11) and to pay Rs.20,000/- as compensation for causing harassment to them and also to pay Rs.10,000/- as cost of the proceeding, to which , they are jointly and severally liable. They are directed to pay the awarded amount within 45 days, in default, other amounts will also carry interest at the same rate.
Given under our hands and seals in this day of the 27th July, 2017.
Free copies of judgment be delivered to the parties.
(Smti A. D. Lahkar) (Md.S.Hussain)
Member President
