Travel firm employee gets two-year jail

Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 27

The District Consumer Forum has awarded a two-year jail term and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 fine on the secretary of a Sector 34-based tours and travel company. The sentence has been handed out for not obeying the District Consumer Forum's order of refunding the amount for cancelled air tickets to a customer. 

In the case, complainants Om Prakash Sharma and his family members, residents of Mani Majra, had booked air tickets from New Delhi to Bhubaneshwar for September 29, 2012, and from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi for October 4, 2012, through Mansoon Travels.

Around Rs 57,000 was paid but when the family reached the Delhi airport, they were informed that their tickets had been cancelled. This caused harassment to the complainant and his family members as they had to hire a taxi, besides incurring other expenses. The family was also informed that the booked return ticket from Bhubaneshwar to Delhi had also been cancelled. 

The family requested for a refund of the amount, but the firm refused to do so.

Acting on the plaint, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum on July 30, 2013, had ordered Divya Minhas of the firm to refund Rs 57,996 along with a compensation of Rs 15,000 to the complainants.  The forum had also asked it to shell out Rs 7,000 as cost of litigation. However, the opposite party did not comply with the order. Thus, the present execution was filed by the complainants on June 16 this year. The forum issued notice to the opposite party, but it did not turn up.

“....(it) clearly indicates that the opposite party is willfully evading the compliance of the order of the forum...the opposite party does not intend to pay the decretal amount to the complainants and comply with the order of the forum in any manner....We, therefore, convict accused Divya Minhas, alias Parminder, Secretary, Mansoon Travels, and the gravity of non-compliance of the order of this forum certainly requires that 

she deserves to be adequately punished,” read the court order.