Mumbai: In a relief for a Kurla resident, a consumer court recently ordered Make My Trip (MMT) to pay Rs 50,000 for failing to provide services as promised to him before his trip to Manali-Shimla-Dalhousie. The court noted that MMT's services were improper and caused huge trauma to the customer and his family.
A full coram led by chairperson RG Wankhade ordered MMT to pay Rs 50,000 to Shehzad Khan. This comes after Khan dragged MMT to the court in March 2016.
According to Khan, he had booked services of MMT for a family trip in July 2015 and had paid an amount of Rs 1.94 lakh as charges for travelling, accommodation, food and other facilities during the week-long trip.
However, the trip turned out to be a nightmare for the Khan family, as they were compelled to travel in a tempo from Shimla to Dalhousie, which is over 400 km away. Due to this mode of transport, instead of their originally booked air-conditioned mini bus, the family reached their hotel in Dalhousie very late.
“Since we reached late, there was no food facility available at the hotel. We were forced to sleep without meals on that night, including my children,” Khan claimed in his petition.
The petition further stated that they were allotted rooms that had no AC and similar were the condition of the vehicle, which was later provided to them. The family claimed that the vehicle driver demanded an additional Rs 5,000 from them to switch on the AC. Since they had no option, they paid the amount.
On the other hand, MMT argued that since the Khan family completed the trip and availed the benefit of facilities provided to them, they cannot be held liable for the "poor experience" of their customer.
After considering the contentions, the forum, which comprised of SV Kalal and Shivcharan Shere as members, concluded that MMT's services were deficient.
“We have no hesitation to hold that MMT failed to provide facilities, as promised to Khan, who suffered from mental and physical trauma because of the travel firm,” the court said.
“Thus, MMT must pay Rs 50,000 to Khan for the mental and physical trauma he went through the trip. The firm to further pay Rs 2,000 for costs of filing the present petition,” the court concluded.
