Travel agency puts ‘wrong’ name on airline ticket, Telangana man wins Rs 27,500 payout

“The ticket clearly indicates that the name of the complainant has been mentioned as ‘Vijay Kumar Reddy M’ instead of ‘Vijay Kumar Markala’. The mistake done by the travel agency while booking the tickets, for which the complainant was forced to cancel the tickets, for which he incurred an expenditure of Rs 4,200- as penalty. Moreover, the travel agency has not taken any steps for refund of the ticket fare along with penalty,” the July 21 order noted.

Name error led to Rs 4,200 penalty

The complainant Vijay Kumar Markala, a 49-year-old businessman from Ranga Reddy district, had allegedly booked airline tickets from Hara Hara Mahadev (travel agency) on December 18, 2024, for a Hyderabad-Varanasi-Hyderabad trip, paying a total of Rs 16,335.

He alleged that the agency mentioned his name wrongly on the ticket, which forced him to cancel it, and he ended up paying a Rs 4,200 penalty for the mistake. He also alleged that the agency charged full adult fare for children’s tickets.

Despite repeated emails requesting a refund, the man stated that the travel agency did not act on his requests, causing him financial loss and mental agony. He also lodged a complaint with the Hayathnagar police station, but said no action was taken.

‘No refund despite repeated request’

The commission found that the tickets were booked for Rs 16,335 and that the complainant’s name was mentioned incorrectly, resulting in the Rs 4,200 penalty. It held that the travel agency was deficient in not taking proper care while booking the tickets, and that it had also failed to take any steps to refund the ticket fare despite the man’s repeated requests.

“It is open to the opposite party (travel agency) to recover the above-mentioned amounts from the airlines,” the commission added.

The commission further noted that, the travel agency did not respond to the official notice or defend themselves at any point, so they lost their right to submit a written explanation. The commission proceeded on the strength of the complainant’s affidavit and evidence placed on record, including the tickets and the police complaint copy.

Allowing the complaint, the commission directed the travel agency to pay Rs 16,335 towards the ticket cost and Rs 4,200 towards the penalty. The travel agency was also directed to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation for financial loss and mental agony, and Rs 2,000 towards costs to the man within 45 days.

Takeaway

This case signifies that a travel agency or booking intermediary cannot escape liability for errors made while booking tickets for a customer. The ruling underscores that deficiency in service is established once an agency fails to correct its own booking error and ignores a customer’s repeated requests for a refund.

For consumer-related grievances, individuals may contact the consumer helpline in their respective states and union territories (Telangana: 1800-4250-0333) or call the National Consumer Helpline at 1915 for assistance.

(Written by Avinash Verma, Avinash is an intern with the Indian Express)