Panchkula: Travel agency to cough up Rs 25K for deficient service

Panchkula, July 19

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has penalised Travelgarh, a travel agency, for deficiency in service.

In a complaint, Pawan Khurana, a deputy manager of the State Bank of India, had alleged negligence and deficient services on the part of the travel agency and British Airways.

The complainant stated that he had planned a family vacation to Calgary, Canada. However, due to rescheduling and subsequent cancellation of their air tickets, their trip was ruined.

Khurana stated that he had approached Travelgarh and booked four air tickets for himself and his family members for Rs 5 lakh. The tickets were for travel from New Delhi to Calgary and back, with connecting flights. The scheduled journey was set to begin on June 17, 2019, and end on June 25. However, on June 11, Khurana received a call from Travelgarh informing him about the rescheduling of the flights with a layover of 24 hours at Heathrow Airport in London.

Khurana claimed that he was not informed about the changes in the flight schedule by either Travelgarh or British Airways in time.

He alleged that the travel agency failed to communicate the alternatives provided by the airline between May 31 and June 5. Consequently, the complainant and his family were unable to take the flights and had to cancel their entire travel plan.

The complainant asserted that the travel agency did not refund the full amount paid for the tickets. It only returned Rs 4.76 lakh of the total Rs 5 lakh. It also allegedly refused to reimburse Rs 50,000 paid in cash for hotel expenses.

Khurana stated that he had suffered mental agony, physical harassment and financial losses due to the inadequate services provided by both Travelgarh and British Airways.

After hearing of the arguments, the commission partially allowed Khurana’s complaint. It directed Travelgarh to refund the remaining Rs 24,000 with interest, pay a compensation of Rs 25,000 for mental agony and litigation charges of Rs 5,500. British Airways was ordered to pay a compensation of Rs 10,000 for violating civil aviation requirements.

The respondents have been given 45 days to comply with the order.