Mumbai: Commission directs refund of advance tour fee

Mumbai: A district consumer commission has directed a travel firm and its directors to refund the advance money a Worli resident had paid with six percent interest after he cancelled his trip when he did not see the visa formalities being carried out properly. While directing the refund of Rs 40,000, commission also awarded Rs 8,000 for mental agony and litigation cost.

The order dated November 10, was passed by RG Wankhade, president, Preethi Chamikutty, and Shraddha Jalnapurkar, members of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Mumbai Suburban on a complaint of Gurudatt Pai, Worli resident against Neem Holidays P Ltd and its directors Manish Agarwal and Alka Agarwal.

In November 2016, Pai gave Rs 40,000 as advance payment for Eastern Europe package, a travel he would do in 2017. The fee given was for all the facilities that Neem would provide for and it also included getting visa.

Visa many get rejected

Neem asked for certain documents from Pai for getting the visa formalities done. Pai sent details but also felt there were some anomalies as he felt all things were not in place and there was scope of visa getting rejected. He then contacted Neem and said if the Visa is rejected then there will be unnecessary problem and he will not be able to enjoy his trip.

However, Neem asked that the remaining fees of rupees one lakh for travel be paid. Pai felt that appropriate help was not given by Neem for visa process to be complete. He then sought refund of the advance he had paid but there was no reply from them and sought the refund by serving notice. When no reply came, he approached the Commission.

No service was taken from the opposite party

Commission observed that since no service was taken from the opposite party, and they had not done any futher proceeding to complete the trip, Pai has the right to get his refund back that was with Neem since 2016. And that Neem did not deliver service as per expectation and showed neglect in doing the same, which was deficiency in service.

The Commission moved exparte when there was no reply to its notice by Neem and its directors. During the hearing, Pai gave details of the advertisement by Neem that stated about Visa service along with others as part of the package.