Suitable match not found, matrimonial firm to pay up

Tribune News Service

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Chandigarh, February 16

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed a matrimonial company to pay a compensation of Rs10,000 to a Zirakpur resident for failing to find a suitable match for his daughter.

The commission also directed the company, Wedding Wish Pvt Ltd, Sector 36-D, Chandigarh, to refund the fee charged after deducting administrative charges.

In a complaint filed through counsel Gaurav Bhardwaj, a resident of Zirakpur stated that he had approached the company on July 11, 2018, for finding a suitable match for his daughter and paid Rs20,000. He also filled a pre-registration form, as per which the total charges were settled at Rs1,20,000. He stated that a service agreement was signed on July 13, 2018, and the company was to send the profiles of suitable grooms from his community, specifically doctor grooms since his daughter was a qualified doctor and serving in the Indian Army. The agreement was valid up to December 2019.

The complainant alleged that the profiles of the grooms were, however, never sent and the company offered excuses that their server was down or the computer operator was on leave.

The complainant also noticed that the profiles sent to him were picked up from various other matrimonial sites. He alleged that not even a single profile was sent by the company independently.

Not satisfied with the service, he requested the company to refund the charges he had paid, but the company declined to give back the amount received from him.

After hearing the arguments, the commission, comprising its president Rajan Dewan and members Surjeet Kaur and Suresh Kumar Sardana, held the company guilty of unfair trade practice. The commission directed the company to refund Rs1,08,000 (after deducting 10 per cent towards administrative charges from the membership fee of Rs1,20,000) to the complainant.

The commission also directed to pay Rs10,000 to the complainant as compensation for causing mental agony and harassment and Rs7,000 as costs of litigation.

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