Admitting a complaint by a senior couple, the District Consumer Redressal Forum held that Chaitanya Holidays, a local tourist company, was deficient in its services and ordered it to pay a compensation of Rs. 15,000 to the duo.
The tour operator has to make the payment before June 30 failing which he will pay interest at 9 per cent p.a till realisation, the order said.
Forum President Sneha Mhatre and members Madhuri Vishwarupe and N D Kadam in their order observed that the tourist company had not bothered to keep the commitments given in their tour schedule as a result of which the couple had to suffer a lot during their trip.
The couple– Balkrishna Katkade and Mangala Katkade– told the Forum that they had booked their tour to Kerala through the tourist company to be undertaken in 2014 between April 14 and 21, and even paid a sum of Rs 61,800 for the same.
They were given the schedule of stay in a three-star hotel with AC room and sightseeing of several places in a mini bus during their stay in Kerala.
However, the couple stated in their complaint that upon their arrival at the airport no one had come to pick them up and they had to make their arrangements to reach the hotel. At the hotel they learnt that the booking was not done and the rooms allotted were non AC.
Of the promised days half of the days they wasted in waiting for pickup and want of proper arrangements.
They also said that as the room which was allotted was non AC they had to incur additional expenses and go in for AC rooms and there they faced nuisance of mosquitoes and monkeys.
During the tour they could not visit all the places as promised and even could not see the sunset at Kanyakumari according to the itinerary, the Forum was told.
They also said that during some of the days as the generator of the hotel was faulty and no power they had to remain awake.
Considering all the woes, and rejecting all the submissions of the respondents, the Forum held that the company needs to compensate the couple by paying Rs. 10,000 towards deficiency in services and Rs. 5,000 for legal expenses.
