Expressindia.com
7 Apr 2008
Ahmedabad, April 6 Singapore Airlines and a local travel agency, Varun Travels Pvt Ltd, have been ordered to pay Rs 80,700 jointly to a customer, Rohit Patel, for showing carelessness and deficiency in service.
In its order, the Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (Rural), Ahmedabad has also asked the two entities to pay nine per cent interest on this amount from the date of order till realisation.
In addition, the Forum has also ordered them a payment of Rs 5,000 to Patel as compensation for the mental harassment, inconvenience and the expenses he incurred on litigation.
Patel, a businessman, had purchased from Varun Travels a confirmed Singapore Airlines ticket on July 17, 2004 for travelling from Ahmedabad to New York via Singapore on July 28, 2004.
At the time of the purchase, the ticket cost Rs 1.16 lakh under a scheme that offered a discount for to and fro travel. Problem arose when the travel agent informed Patel that the price of the issued ticket had increased and, according to the new fare sheet, he would have to pay Rs. 2.27 lakh if he wanted to travel on the stipulated date and carrier. Patel enquired about the sudden rise in fare. According to Singapore Airlines, the revised fare sheet was sent to Varun Travels on July 17, 2004 itself and that the agent was not authorised to issue tickets.
But Varun Travels claimed that it had not received the revised fare sheet until it issued the ticket to Patel. Neither the airline nor the travel agent took responsibility for the action. This forced Patel to cancel his ticket at the last moment and get a confirmed ticket with Lufthansa from Mumbai, which cost him Rs.1. 86 lakh for the same travel.
Back in India, Patel approached the Consumer Education and Research Society (CERS), Ahmedabad, which filed a complaint against Singapore Airlines (Mumbai and Ahmedabad) and Varun Travels Pvt Ltd.
Patel had claimed Rs. 70,000 as the difference between the fares of Singapore and Lufthansa Airlines and Rs.10, 700 for the to and fro fare from Ahmedabad to Mumbai to book the Lufthansa ticket. He also claimed Rs 5,000 as compensation for the mental harassment and inconvenience caused and another Rs 5,000 as costs.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Singapore-Airlines-agent-fined-Rs-80-700/293547/
