GHAZIABAD: The consumer forum has ruled in favour of a man seeking a refund of a tour advance after contracting Covid in 2021. The forum observed that since the cancellation was due to circumstances beyond the consumer's control, the tour operator must return the advance amount and a Rs 5,000 fine within 45 days of the order.
Petitioner Ishan Pratap Singh had booked a trip for his family from Mumbai to the Maldives between March 13 and 17, 2021, through Ineedtrip, a travel agency based out of Ghaziabad. Singh told the forum that he took a loan of Rs 1.4 lakh to pay a Rs 1.9 lakh advance to the company for the trip.
"I had to take a RT-PCR test (a medical test to determine Covid infection) as per prevailing travel norms, and was detected positive for the infection on March 12, a day before the trip," the petitioner said, adding that he requested the travel agency to reschedule the trip for May 22 that year. However, the agency refused, stating that the free RT-PCR package was only valid until April 2021.
"Eventually, I decided to opt for April 1 as the travel date, but given the pandemic and my health condition, I had to reschedule it to Nov 2021. The agent said that if the trip was not availed by Sept 2021, the hotel with which the agency had tied up would forfeit the booking amount," Singh told the forum.
He added that the agency did not return the advance money, and he is still paying EMIs for the loan he took.
Despite being served with notice, the respondents neither filed a reply nor appeared before the forum. Consequently, the consumer forum (Ghaziabad) president Praveen Kumar Jain and member RP Singh heard and passed the order ex parte.
"The applicant requested an extension of the dates due to the pandemic and his health condition. The travel agency neither extended the dates nor returned the advance amount taken from the customer, which falls under the provisions of deficiency in service under the Consumer Protection Act. Accordingly, Ineedtrip is directed to pay the advance amount of Rs 1.9 lakh within 45 days of the order, with an interest of 6% from the date of the order until the final payment is made," the forum ruled.
It also instructed the travel agency to pay Rs 5000 as compensation for legal costs and mental harassment to the petitioner.