Bus dropped man 10 km short at midnight, he wins Rs 31,500 payout from travel firm

“The opposite party cannot shy away from their liability for making the complainant travel by a non-AC bus instead of an AC bus for which the fare/consideration was received by the opposite party. The opposite party also falls under the purview of deficiency of service for forcibly dropping the complainant at Kovvuru (which is around 9 to 10 kms from Rajahmundry) instead of Rajahmundry, for which a consideration was received,” the September 15 ex-parte order read.

The man alleged that he had booked a bus service from Hyderabad to Rajahmundry by paying Rs 1,200 through a UPI app to the travel company, and even though at the time of booking the man was assured that he would travel in an AC bus, he ended up travelling in a non-AC bus.

The man also claimed that despite paying for the ticket, no physical ticket was given to him by the travel company and at the end of the journey, he was not dropped at the destination but left about 10 km before Rajahmundry, near Kovvuru, at midnight, and that too without any proper arrangement or concern for safety that caused him “substantial inconvenience and hardship”.

According to the man, when he requested the company to refund Rs 500 as a “reasonable settlement”, the company refused and became rude and intimidating with the man. The man approached the National Consumer Helpline for resolution, but his complaint was disposed of without any solution because of procedural reasons. The commission recorded in the order that, in spite of sending notice to the travel company, the company did not appear in court.

The commission observed that according to the evidence of a transaction done by the man, it was proved that Rs 1,200 was paid to the travel company by the man and the amount was indeed debited from his account.

The commission held that the travel company could not avoid its liability for making the man travel by non-AC bus instead of an AC bus, the price of which was received by them and further held them liable for deficiency of service for dropping the man at Kovvuru.

Accordingly, the travel company was ordered to pay Rs 500 (difference in charges of AC and non-AC) to the man along with compensation of Rs.30,00. The commission also ordered the travel company to pay Rs 1000 to the man as litigation costs.

Takeaway

The ruling establishes the obligation of service providers to ensure proper treatment of consumers’ personal belongings and that the concerns of the consumers must not be ignored, causing them unnecessary inconvenience. For consumer-related grievances, individuals may contact the consumer helpline in their respective states (Andhra Pradesh: 1800-11-4000) and union territories or call the National Consumer Helpline at 1915 for assistance.

Don’t miss out on these stories:

AIIMS Rishikesh ordered to pay Rs 60,000 after ‘wrongly declaring’ man as HIV positive

Man wins Rs 17.62 lakh as Covid derails plans for daughter’s wedding at 5-star Delhi hotel

Nearly 6 lakh cases pending in consumer commissions, over 860 posts vacant: Centre