Consumer forum asks Make My Trip to pay Rs 39,000 to man for cancelled flight

The complainant alleged that their return flight was cancelled without any prior notice or providing any reason whatsoever.

He further said that despite repeated attempts, neither were they given any refund for the cancelled flight nor were they provided any alternative arrangements. The complainant thus booked another flight for himself and his family, which cost him Rs 36,469. The complainant further stated that when the firm did not refund their money a legal notice was sent to MMT which shifted the blame to the airline company – Jet Airways.

At this time, the company had become defunct and was under insolvency proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai Bench.

In its reply to the notice, the company, MMT, submitted to the commission that at the time of bookings, the complainants duly agreed to the terms and conditions of the user agreement, which highlights that in case a flight is cancelled, the airline company will be responsible and is duly mentioned in the guidelines issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). MMT said that it had initiated a refund on behalf of Rajat Sharma which it had forwarded to Jet Airways and added that the company was then responsible to respond to the complainant’s requests.

The District Commission directed MMT to pay Rs 29,080 to the complainant (the cost of the return tickets) and also to pay an amount of Rs 10,000 as compensation.

The District Commission also ordered MMT to get all necessary documents/vouchers signed from the complainant to ensure the refund is processed.

Make My Trip (India) filed an appeal against the order of the District Commission, before the State Commission.

The State Commission after hearing the matter held that the appellant failed to discharge its obligation of providing due services to the respondents even after receiving the convenience fee, as is evident from the air tickets. It said that the appellant neither provided nor made any alternative arrangement for the return journey for Rajat and his family.

The State Commission further observed that after passing of the order dated June 20, 2019, by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) vide which Jet Airways has been placed into bankruptcy protection, the appellant company filed customer claims including that of the respondents was very well in the knowledge about the ongoing insolvency proceedings of Jet Airways, but still it did not act swiftly to mitigate the loss to the
respondents.
The Commission thus dismissed the appeal of Make My Trip (India) and upheld the District Commission order.