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Time of India
12 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Consumer forum orders refund after Covid-19 disrupts travel plans
In a classic case of vacation plans gone viral, the Ghaziabad Consumer Forum has ruled in favor of Ishan Pratap Singh, a traveler who was forced to cancel a family trip to the Maldives in 2021 after testing positive for Covid-19—just a day before departure, reported TOI. Singh had booked the dream getaway from Mumbai through Ineedtrip , a Ghaziabad-based travel agency, coughing up a hefty Rs 1.9 lakh as an advance (and even taking a Rs 1.4 lakh loan to fund it). But when he tested positive via an RT-PCR on March 12, he requested the agency to reschedule the trip originally planned for March 13–17, as per the TOI report. Though he tried to shuffle the dates—first aiming for May, then April, and finally November 2021—he was met with repeated refusals. The agency cited expiry of certain travel packages and warned of forfeiture by the partner hotel after September. Despite these pandemic-related hurdles and Singh's continued EMI payments for the loan, Ineedtrip refused to refund the money. They also skipped responding to the consumer forum's notices. Unimpressed, forum members Praveen Kumar Jain and RP Singh passed an ex parte order, declaring Ineedtrip's actions a clear 'deficiency in service' under the Consumer Protection Act. Live Events Now, the travel agency must refund the Rs 1.9 lakh within 45 days, plus 6% interest from the date of the order until the amount is paid. To top it off, they've been ordered to shell out Rs 5,000 more for Singh's legal costs and mental agony. Economic Times WhatsApp channel )
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Consumer forum orders tour advance refund for man who had Covid-19
Ghaziabad: The consumer forum has ruled in favour of a man seeking a refund of a tour advance after contracting Covid in 2021. The forum observed that since the cancellation was due to circumstances beyond the consumer's control, the tour operator must return the advance amount and a Rs 5,000 fine within 45 days of the order. Petitioner Ishan Pratap Singh had booked a trip for his family from Mumbai to the Maldives between March 13 and 17, 2021, through Ineedtrip, a travel agency based out of Ghaziabad. Singh told the forum that he took a loan of Rs 1.4 lakh to pay a Rs 1.9 lakh advance to the company for the trip. "I had to take a RT-PCR test (a medical test to determine Covid infection) as per prevailing travel norms, and was detected positive for the infection on March 12, a day before the trip," the petitioner said, adding that he requested the travel agency to reschedule the trip for May 22 that year. However, the agency refused, stating that the free RT-PCR package was only valid until April 2021. "Eventually, I decided to opt for April 1 as the travel date, but given the pandemic and my health condition, I had to reschedule it to Nov 2021. The agent said that if the trip was not availed by Sept 2021, the hotel with which the agency had tied up would forfeit the booking amount," Singh told the forum. He added that the agency did not return the advance money, and he is still paying EMIs for the loan he took. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Что говорит о вашем характере поза, в которой вы спите! Удивительные Новости Undo Despite being served with notice, the respondents neither filed a reply nor appeared before the forum. Consequently, the consumer forum (Ghaziabad) president Praveen Kumar Jain and member RP Singh heard and passed the order ex parte. "The applicant requested an extension of the dates due to the pandemic and his health condition. The travel agency neither extended the dates nor returned the advance amount taken from the customer, which falls under the provisions of deficiency in service under the Consumer Protection Act. Accordingly, Ineedtrip is directed to pay the advance amount of Rs 1.9 lakh within 45 days of the order, with an interest of 6% from the date of the order until the final payment is made," the forum ruled. It also instructed the travel agency to pay Rs 5000 as compensation for legal costs and mental harassment to the petitioner.
