A web-based travel agent has been directed by a consumer forum to pay one of its customers over Rs 27,000 including the booking amount for an air ticket which the portal had cancelled unilaterally. The district consumer disputes redressal forum observed that the portal,TravelChacha.com,caused financial losses and harassment to the customer by cancelling his ticket despite charging him for it and then not refunding the amount. "Firstly,the agent got cancelled the confirmed ticket despite the fact that the sale price of the booked ticket were debited from the bank account of the complainant. Secondly,the agent did not refund the amount of the cancelled ticket. "Thus,the agent has caused financial losses beside harassment,pain and mental agony to the complainant," said Central District Consumer Dispute Redressal Forum,presided by B B Chaudhary. The forum's order came on the plea of Haryana native,Manish Kumar Goyal,who had accused the travel portal of arbitrarily cancelling his ticket and not refunding his money. Goyal had booked Spicejet Airlines ticket through Travel Chacha to travel from Delhi to Mumbai on August 12,2010. The bench observed no one had appeared on behalf of the travel agent and it was proceeded against ex-parte. The forum directed the portal to refund the booking amount of Rs 2,786 to Goyal and pay him Rs 20,000 as compensation for harassment as well as Rs 5,000 as litigation costs.
