Online travel agency told to pay ₹1.13 lakh

Musafir.com did not make the complainant aware of visa requirements for connecting flights to Canada, China

COMPLAINANT, HIS WIFE WERE NOT ALLOWED TO BOARD FLIGHT FROM SEATTLE TO CANADA AS THEY DIDN’T HAVE VISA FOR CANADA

JALANDHAR: Citing deficiency as well as fault on part of Musafir.com, an online travel agency, the district consumer disputes redressal forum on Monday directed the firm to pay ₹1.13 lakh to a complainant within one month for booking a connecting flight to the USA without informing him about the visa requirements.

Complainant Bhupinder Verma of Nangal Shama village had filed a complaint with forum on September 16, 2016, stating that he was a professor at Lovely Professional University in Phagwara.

He had booked two air e-tickets on July 5, 2016, for tourist travel from Seattle (America) to Delhi (India) for July 29, 2016, by paying ₹1,03,340 through credit card.

Verma said the flight had two stoppages at Vancouver (Canada) and Guangzhou (China) but the agency did not make the complainant aware about the visa requirement of any country.

“When I, along with my wife, went to board the flight at Seattle, I was shocked when the airlines did not allow us to board the flight. They told me that it was a connecting flight through Canada and we did not have the visa to go there,” the complainant told the forum.

Representative of the travel agency refuted the allegations and pleaded before the court that the complainant booked e-tickets himself and no information regarding the plan was given to the company.

Moreover, when the passenger accepts the rules of the trip, it states under the liability disclaimer that — “You are fully responsible for ascertaining and obtaining the documents required for your entire trip, including, but not limited to emigration letters, passports and visas as necessary”.

After considering both sides, the forum observed that there is was negligence as well as deficiency in service on part of the travel company and it was liable to pay remaining the remaining ₹78,830 to the complainant as it had already paid ₹24,510 to him.

The forum also ordered Musafir.com to pay ₹35, 000 to the complainant as litigation expenses and compensation for the harassment he had faced.