‘Consumers to be refunded for failure to take trip’

Refund the two men who had paid for a pilgrimage to Amarnath that was never undertaken, the Central Mumbai Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum told a travel agency.

Refund the two men who had paid for a pilgrimage to Amarnath that was never undertaken, the Central Mumbai Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum told a travel agency.

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Holding Jai Mata Di Holidays and Travels guilty of deficiency in service, the forum and ordered it to refund Rs 1.10 lakh to Rajendra Gore and Rs 45,000 to Ashwinkumar Lonkar with 9% interest since October 8, 2008, the day they filed the complaint.

The agency also has to pay them Rs 10,000 each towards compensation for mental agony and Rs 5,000 each towards cost of the complaint.

In 2007, Lonkar and Gore had paid Jai Mata Di Holidays and Travels Rs 65,000 and Rs 1.10 lakh respectively to register for a pilgrimage to Amarnath in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the agency did not undertake the trip to Amarnath that year, but promised to include them in the next year’s trip.

But in 2008 too, despite continuous requests, the agency did not make arrangements for the duo for the pilgrimage.

Later, the agency returned Rs 20,000 to Lonkar, but Gore received nothing. Subsequently, both approached the consumer forum.

The travel agency could not substantiate any reasons for not being able to arrange the trip before the forum.

“The complainants had cancelled the trip in 2007, but we do not have any written proof of the cancellations. We will appeal against the forum’s order before the state consumer commission,” said Shrikant Chavan, proprietor of Jai Mata Di Holidays and Travels.