Firm penalised after cook gets dishwasher job 

Consumer forum orders job consultancy to pay Rs 30K as compensation, repay Rs1.6L

BENGALURU: A city consumer forum ordered a job consultancy firm to compensate a person from Maharashtra for erroneously providing the job of ‘Dish/Plate Washing Boy’ instead of the post of ‘Cook’, at a hotel in Malaysia, as assured, while collecting fees of over Rs 1 lakh.

The forum ordered Jet Minds Consulting Pvt Ltd, in Manipal Centre in Bengaluru, to pay Rs 30,000 as compensation, including Rs 5,000 as litigation cost to Maruthi Tukaram Kole, 35, from Sambare in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.

Bengaluru Rural and Urban I Additional District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, comprising president HR Srinivas and member D Suresh, also ordered Jet Minds to refund Rs 1.60 lakh along with 12 per cent interest per annum to Kole, from the date of filing the complaint.

“There is a deficiency in service and unfair trade practice by the company, and hence, it is liable to refund the amount of Rs 1.60 lakh, which is received from the complainant towards the ticket and visa fee, along with 12 per cent per annum as interest. Due to inaction of the company is not returning the amount, the complainant is made to suffer, which we quantify at Rs 25,000. If a sum of Rs 5,000 is awarded towards litigation expenses, it will meet the ends of justice,” the forum said.

According to the order, Kole registered his name on Naukri.com for employment. He got a message stating that there was a job opportunity abroad and that employment would be provided on payment of Rs 1.60 lakh. Accordingly, he paid the money to Jet Minds on October 19, 2018, for ticket and travel visa to Malaysia. He was promised that the travel visa would be converted into a work visa.

When he landed in Malaysia, the firm accommodated him in a hotel 400km from Kuala Lampur, the capital of Malaysia. Shockingly, after staying there for a few days, the hotel HR told him to work as ‘Dish/Plate Washing Boy’. However, while sending a message through Naukri.com, he was assured he would be given the job of cook or driver. Kole did not want to work as a dishwasher.

Jet Minds failed to fulfil its promise, and as he had no place to stay in Malaysia, he had to make arrangements for a return ticket to India. Meanwhile, his visa also expired. When he informed his parents about his predicament, they made arrangements for a ticket for him to return to India. When he demanded that Jet Minds should refund the money, the firm allegedly threatened to file a police complaint. 

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