E-Paper
Airline fined for failing to refund money for cancelled ticket
As per the complainant, Uday Vir Garg, 28, he was informed via email on February 15, 2021, that the tickets have been cancelled and he will be entitled to a refund of €606. However, despite reaching out via the airline’s helpline numbers, there was no positive response and the amount was not credited back to him.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission 1 has directed Turkish Airlines to refund €600 paid by a Sector-21 resident for booking a flight from Berlin to New Delhi via Istanbul on March 1, 2021, and for travelling back to Berlin from New Delhi via Istanbul on March 30, 2021, which was later cancelled owing to Covid-19 restrictions.
The airline has also been directed to pay ₹10,000 for mental agony and harassment and ₹7,000 as litigation costs.
As per the complainant, Uday Vir Garg, 28, he was informed via email on February 15, 2021, that the tickets have been cancelled and he will be entitled to a refund of €606. However, despite reaching out via the airline’s helpline numbers, there was no positive response and the amount was not credited back to him.
After sending a legal notice to the airlines, an email was marked asking for the e-ticket number, but the refund was again not sent by them.
The airline, in their reply, said they have issued tickets in the name of the complainant. However, due to the Covid-19 situation the international travel ban was extended by the Government of India. They had sent an email to the registered email address of the complainant informing about the cancellation of his tickets and as per the terms and conditions, the complainant had two options — to either opt for refund of the flight tickets or go for voucher tickets that can be used for booking flight tickets with the airline.
The complainant chose the voucher and accordingly the opposing parties had issued a voucher amounting to €600.46.
They, however, alleged that the complainant failed to make the request by providing his account details to the nearest branch office of the airline for the refund of the cancelled ticket amount against which refund cheque was issued. However, due to default on the part of the complainant, there has been delay in payment of the refund amount.
The commission, meanwhile, observed that after going through the documents on record, there was no evidence to show that the complainant had opted for vouchers. “Since it was an online transaction, therefore in our opinion, the opposite party should have refunded the money by way of online transfer procedure. Hence, in absence of any concrete evidence on record, we are of the considered opinion the act of OPs for firstly, cancellation of the flight in question without giving prior information to the complainant, thereafter non-refunding the hard earned money of the complainant in absence of any service provided by the OPs proves deficiency in service and its indulgence in unfair trade practice,” the commission further observed, while directing that the money be refunded.
