Air India to pay up Rs 2 lakh

Rajiv Goyal,a city-based industrialist and the managing director of Surya Pharmaceutical Ltd,and his family members had booked a flight to Srinagar from Delhi,with a stopover in Jammu,in July 2007. The flight was,however,cancelled in Jammu on the plea that “there were not enough passengers from Jammu”.

Goyal had first moved the district consumer forum,which awarded a compensation of Rs 10,000 to him in August 2008. Dissatisfied with the amount,the complainant appealed to the commission,which enhanced it to Rs 2 lakh.

In his complaint,Goyal said,as they were stranded in Jammu,their entire travel arrangements were disturbed and he had to cancel all the onward hotel,taxi and helicopter bookings. The family was forced to travel in a Spicejet flight to Srinagar.

In its reply,the Air India,however,said the flight had to be cancelled due to a technical snag. It said accommodation was provided to all the passengers and denied any deficiency in services on its part.

The commission said there was no evidence on record to prove that the flight had developed a snag as the aircraft maintenance engineer had placed no affidavit on this in the file.

“There was considerable mental harassment faced by the complainant and thus the amount of Rs 10,000 is low and is enhanced to Rs 2 lakh. It is unfair trade practice to cancel the flight midway without any cogent reason,” said Justice K C Gupta,President,UT State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

Immigration consultants to pay
Express News Service
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal forum has directed Worldwide Immigration Consultancy Services (WWICS) to pay Rs 25,000 as compensation for keeping a client “in the dark about his eligibility” and refund Rs 25,000 taken as fees.
The complainant,Navpreet Singh Sandhu,claimed that the company had informed him in October 2007 that he was eligible to immigrate to Canada under the skilled-worker category. The process would take three to four years as first a candidate was to be registered with the emigrating authority. Sandhu was told that he had 66 points while the minimum points necessary for processing the application were 65.
The complainant’s father expressed apprehension about points allocated on the basis of blood relations who are Canadian citizens (stepsister of the complainant’s mother) as they had no documents to prove the relationship.
On the company’s assurance,Sandhu deposited Rs 25,000. The application,however,did not move forward with the emigrating authorities.
After two months,and a vain struggle to prove a blood relation with his aunt,Sandhu asked for a refund. He was informed that the fee was non-refundable and,hence,Sandhu moved the consumer forum.
In a written reply,the WWICS stated that the complainant was supplied all forms required for immigration but neither were they returned nor did he submit the visa fee.
Further,the assessment for the complainant’s case was made on the basis of particulars provided by him and he attained the points required for eligibility.
The forum,however,stated that the immigration company had failed to render proper advice to the complainant and led him to believe that he was eligible for immigration.
Emigration authorities allow 15 points for 1-year experience and 2 points for each additional completed year. According to the complainant,the company had promised that that he would get 17 points on account of work experience.
The record,however,showed that the complainant could earn only 15 points on that basis,as he had worked only 1 year and 8 months.
“Had the company told the complainant that he would not get required points for experience,he would not have started the application process,” said the forum.