Make My Trip asked to pay Rs 83636 for messing up travel plans of Hyderabad mother

Hyderabad: District Consumer Redressal Commission, Ranga Reddy has directed Make My Trip India Pvt. Ltd to pay Rs 58,636 and a compensation of Rs 25,000 for causing physical and mental agony to a Hyderabad resident.

Case details

Aruna Peri, a resident of Kompally in Hyderabad, had booked tickets through the MakeMyTrip website on April 11, 2019, for a to-and-fro travel from Mumbai to Copenhagen for three persons including her two daughters.

Aruna had paid Rs.1,17,271 through her debit card on the same day. Tickets were booked online for July 2, 2019, and July 15, 2019.

Aruna being a resident of Hyderabad had opted to reach Mumbai from Hyderabad to take a Turkish Airlines flight to Copenhagen. For this purpose, she purchased tickets for an Indigo flight from Hyderabad to Mumbai through Make My Trip for herself and her two daughters on July 2, 2019. While the flight took off from Hyderabad, it never landed in Mumbai because the airport was closed due to heavy rains.

Make My Trip gives travel options for Aruna

Aruna and her daughters were brought back to Hyderabad. Make My Trip had informed that they had two options – either to cancel the entire trip from Mumbai to Copenhagen and return and to claim the full amount or to buy a fresh ticket from Delhi to Copenhagen since there was no guarantee when the Mumbai Airport would become operational.

With no option left, Aruna chose the second option to buy a fresh ticket from Delhi to Copenhagen in order not to miss the holiday trip that was already paid in full with no refund option.

Therefore she purchased a one-way ticket from Delhi to Copenhagen from Hyderabad for three passengers by spending an additional amount of Rs 92,780. She traveled to Copenhagen on July 3, 2019, via Delhi.

Make My Trip didn't inform about the cancellation to Aruna

Aruna alleged that she was not provided with any information about their original online trip and was made to believe that the said trip was subsisting about her return trip/tickets since the original return trip included Copenhagen to Mumbai by Turkish Airlines for July 15, 2019. But at Copenhagen Airport, Turkish Airlines refused to permit the complainant to check in on the return flight on July 15, 2019.

Aruna and her daughters were directed to the Turkish Airlines customer service office at Copenhagen Airport. They were informed that she did not travel onward on July 2, 2019, from Mumbai to Copenhagen, the entire booking including onward and return was canceled.

Aruna was not informed of this fact either by Make My Trip or by Turkish Airlines about the said cancellation. Upon undergoing abnormal tension and anxiety at Copenhagen Airport, the customer service Manager of Turkish Airlines at the last minute helped Aruna and her daughters to check in.

Make My Trip appeals Consumer forum to dismiss Aruna’s petition

With no option left, Aruna knocked on the doors of the Consumer forum seeking justice. In her complaint, she alleged that due to the negligence and deficiency of service of Make My Trip, they faced physical and mental agony in a foreign land, and due to that, they lost the pleasure of the foreign trip.

Make My Trip also filed a written version with a preliminary objection that the jurisdiction of the Commission is barred under the terms of the User Agreement and another preliminary objection raised by them is that Aruna’s issue does not fall within the definition of the consumer as there is neither any unfair trade practice nor any deficiency in service and liable to be dismissed.

Make My Trip also took a preliminary objection that the complaint is liable to be dismissed on the ground of non-joinder of necessary parties. In the present case, Aruna booked the flight tickets for herself and her family via Turkish Airlines, and in case of non-refunding of the amount for flight tickets Turkish Airlines is a necessary party to this case and in the absence of Turkish Airlines, no effective decree could be passed.

Court directs Make My Trip to compensate Aruna

After hearing the arguments from both parties, the Court noted that Make My Trip is deficient in rendering services that are for not providing the details about the request made for a refund before Turkish Airlines about the one-way trip amount i.e. from Mumbai to Copenhagen on July 2, 2019. Hence, Make My Trip is liable to pay Rs 58,636 as she could not travel and utilize the tickets of Turkish Airlines due to the closure of the Airport in Mumbai.

The Court in its verdict also said that Make My Trip is also liable to compensate Rs 25,000 for the physical and mental agony caused to Aruna and her daughters at Copenhagen on July 15, 2019, and Rs 5,000 litigation costs to her.