CHENNAI : An online travel company, Make My Trip, and Jet Airways were ordered by the District Consumers Disputes Redressal Forum of South Chennai to jointly pay a city resident `31,200 as compensation for denying the resident’s parents to travel by flight even after confirmation of tickets.
AH Vengada Valavan had booked two tickets for his parents to travel from New Delhi to Chennai, through Make My Trip in August 2006. Due to a change in plan, he had requested the online travel company to reschedule the tickets to travel on August 30 afternoon instead of morning. After paying `3,500 as rescheduling charges, he received a mail confirming the availability of tickets. But, when his parents arrived at the domestic terminal of Indira Gandhi airport in New Delhi, they were not allowed to board the flight as their tickets weren’t reserved.
“My father is 76 years old and my mother is 70 years old and both are diabetic, and suffer from hypertension. They had to rush to the railway station and travel in the unreserved compartment to reach Chennai,” said Valavan in his complaint.Make My Trip denied allegations and said that they had not confirmed the rescheduled tickets and also said that the passengers did not turn up at the airport on the date of travel. “We refunded the rescheduling charges of `3,500 on December 10, 2007, to the complainant’s account via online transfer. This forum has no territorial jurisdiction to entertain the case,” said the company in its defense.
Jet Airways said that they were in no way connected to the case on hand as the complainant had not availed any kind of service from them, and that they are wrongly impleaded in this complaint.The forum, comprising president Justice M Mony and judicial member K Amala, dismissed the above reasons as no proof was submitted to prove the transfer of the refund amount and to prove that the complainant’s parents were absent at the airport on the day of travel and ordered both parties to jointly pay Valavan `31,200 as compensation.
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The matter dates back to August 2006 when AH Vengada Valavan had booked two tickets for his parents to travel from New Delhi to Chennai, through Make My Trip. Due to a sudden change in plans, Valavan had requested the online travel company to reschedule the tickets to travel on August 30 afternoon instead of morning.