Hyderabad: Consumer panel asks Travolook to pay Rs 19360 to senior citizen for not refunding canceled tickets

Hyderabad: District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-II, Hyderabad has directed Travolook Ltd to refund Rs 12,360 (along with 12 percent interest) and pay Rs 5,000 compensation, and Rs 2,000 towards litigation costs to a Hyderabad resident for causing mental agony and physical trauma.

Case Details

Shamsuddin Ahmed (74), a resident of Noor Khan Bazar in Hyderabad had booked flight tickets for his grandson who wanted to travel along with his friend from Hyderabad to Mumbai. The elderly man logged into the website of Travolook Ltd on June 6, 2022. The price of each flight ticket was Rs 6, 180, and two tickets cost him a sum of Rs 12,360.

Ahmed made payments through his ICICI Bank credit card. It is pertinent to mention that the amount for booking the flight tickets was debited from his account, but the flight tickets were not booked. On June 6, 2022, Ahmed received an email from the Travolook Ltd customer care center stating that the tickets that Ahmed wanted to book on the website were canceled due to expiration and the payments would not be processed for the said transaction.

Ahmed immediately sent an email to Travolook Limited informing them that the flight tickets were canceled due to expiration and that the amount for booking was debited from his account. Thereafter, Travolook Limited apologized for the inconvenience caused and assured Ahmed that the amount would be refunded within 10-15 working days. Ahmed had once again sent an email to Travolook Limited enquiring about the refund.

Travolook Limited had informed Ahmed that it shared the details with the concerned team and requested him to provide 72 hours to give an update. It is pertinent to state here that to date there is no headway in the refund. Ahmed had sent various emails to Travolook Limited requesting them to refund the amount but to no avail

Ahmed provided Travolook Limited with every detail and had also given an undertaking. Vexed with the attitude of Travolook, he sent a notice, (July 3, 2023) through his counsel calling upon Travolook Limited to refund the amount within 15 days from the date of the receipt of the notice. Despite serving notice, Travolook Limited did not respond for almost 45 days.

The court noted that the attitude of Travolook Limited clearly shows the deficiency in service and also escaping liability by not refunding the amount that rightly belongs to Ahmed. Moreover, Travolook Limited also admitted to refunding the amount to Ahmed. But Travolook Limited had utterly failed to refund the amount even after a lapse of thirteen months. Hence, the court directed Travolook Ltd to refund Rs 12,360 (along with 12 percent interest), Rs 5,000 compensation, and Rs 2,000 towards litigation costs to Ahmed.