Tour operator made to pay for not checking passport validity
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Regulations mandate that passports are valid for at least six months to travel to Indonesia. The travel agent failed to verify this, resulting in a Surat tourist being refused boarding at Delhi airport. The court also ordered payment of compensation for the harassment caused.
Jha contacted Surat-based TITO Tours two years ago for a Bali package. She booked a package costing Rs 2.22 lakh for herself, her husband and their son Anuj.
Jha furnished the passports of all three to TITO Tours for the ticket booking and other procedures. The tour operator then bought tickets for them from Surat to Bali via Delhi and Kuala Lumpur.
In April 2023, the family arrived in Delhi from Surat to catch the flight to Bali. Jha's son was denied boarding because his passport had less than six months' validity remaining, in breach of Indonesian laws. Anuj returned to Surat.
The complainant then sought a refund from the tour operator, who refused it, saying it was her responsibility to check the passport validity. Jha then approached the Surat consumer forum against TITO Tours.
The forum observed: "As the tour operator is associated with foreign tours, he knows the rules regarding passport validity. It is the operator's duty to inform the customer of these rules. In this case, the customer had already provided the operator with the passports for booking.
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As the tour operator is an expert in his business, it is his duty to check passport validity, not the customer's. This is a clear deficiency in service that led to losses for the consumer.
Therefore, the tour operator is liable to pay Rs 1.37 lakh as compensation to the complainant."
The Surat consumer court ordered that the compensation be paid along with 8% interest from May 18, 2023, Rs 3,000 for the harassment caused and Rs 2,000 for legal costs.
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