Spiritual retreat turns sour: Family wins Rs 1 lakh payout over travel nightmare
The complainant, Aakula Venu Gopal, had booked a 10-night Char Dham Yatra tour package with the travel agency in April 2024, paying 90,000 in advance. However, just days before the journey, the agency abruptly cancelled the trip, citing a lack of hotel availability, and pressured him into accepting a Kashmir package instead. With no other viable option and fearing a substantial financial loss, Gopal reluctantly agreed.
The ordeal worsened when Gopal, along with his elderly mother and young daughter, arrived in Delhi and travelled overnight to Katra. The hotel listed in their itinerary had no booking under their name. Stranded at 2am without mobile connectivity in Jammu & Kashmir, the family eventually managed to find alternative accommodation by 6am, well outside the promised package plan.
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Throughout the trip, the family encountered repeated instances of unbooked hotels, uncooperative agents, demands for additional money from the driver, and a lack of basic amenities, including meals, despite the package claiming to provide a MAP (Modified American Plan) arrangement.
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Due to delays and poor coordination, Gopal's mother and daughter were unable to undertake the Vaishno Devi pilgrimage, despite having travelled all that way for it.
Later in Srinagar, a promised houseboat stay was once again cancelled without prior notice, forcing the family to arrange accommodation at their own expense.
Upon returning, Gopal approached the commission seeking a refund of 44,219 spent on food, alternative hotel bookings, and transport, along with 1 lakh as compensation. In its final order, the commission concluded that the agency had engaged in unfair trade practices. "Throughout the tour, the family faced considerable distress due to the negligent and unprofessional service of the agency. We are of the considered opinion that the agency committed a deficiency in service and caused great hardship during what was meant to be a leisure trip," the commission said.
The commission directed the company to pay 44,219 towards incurred expenses, 50,000 for mental agony, and 10,000 as litigation costs within 45 days.
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