Make My Trip asked to compensate customer
Agency fined for deficiency in service, ruining travel programme
The travel portal Make My Trip India Pvt Ltd was hauled up by the district consumer forum for deficiency of service and ordered to pay compensation to the complainant Sri Kishore Kumar Puli, a resident of Saroor Nagar.
The complainant had booked two hotel rooms online in Maharashtra on February 16, 2017 and received a mail from the travel company confirming the booking.
However, when he contacted the hotel before travelling, he found out that there were no vacant rooms and there was no booking in his name.
On February 19, he contacted the travel company for a refund of the `14,278 he had paid as advance booking for the rooms. He received a reply on March 3, stating that his refund amount for the room was being processed and that he would be given a voucher worth `3,000.
The complainant said that the discount voucher was like rubbing salt on his wounds and that he was subjected to misery and inconvenience.
The travel company contended that they were a highly reputed tour and travel company that facilitates bookings of hotels, airline tickets on a national and international level.
They contended that their User Agreement says the jurisdiction of all disputes is restricted to the courts/forum in NCR of Delhi. They further argued that the room was booked and a confirmation was sent to the complainant.
The forum observed that in the confirmation mail sent by the travel company, it was stated, ‘Your booking is confirmed and you are not required to contact the hotel or MakyMyTrip to reconfirm the same.’
The forum further observed that despite the company claiming to be well acclaimed, they could not arrange accommodation for the consumer for even one day and that the company should have been in constant touch with the hotel.
Stating that the complainant’s travel programme was disturbed due to the deficiency of service, the forum ruled in favour of the complainant asking MakeMyTrip to pay a refund of `14,278 with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum from February 2017 and a compensation of the same amount along with an amount of `5,000 towards costs.