Chandigarh: Travel firm told to pay Rs 1.84 lakh to woman for giving her visa after flight took off

Kaur alleged that a day before her flight, she came to know that the travel firm had arranged her visa on her old passport.

The Chandigarh Consumer Forum has directed a travel firm to pay Rs 1,84,705 to a city woman for giving her visa to Dubai after the flight took off.
Gurmeet Kaur stated that in November 2017, she had approached Yourflight Travels India, a travel firm, to arrange a five day trip to Dubai with her sister, beginning December 27, 2018. She had booked two rooms in Radisson Blu Hotel, Deira Creek, Dubai, through the firm and paid Rs 1.07 lakh for it. Kaur alleged that she continuously requesting the firm to applying for her visa. She was informed that the visa would be available to her before her travelling. She thus also paid Rs 5,814 visa fees to the firm, and booked air tickets through Air Arabia airlines after spending Rs 46,891.

Kaur alleged that a day before her flight, she came to know that the travel firm had arranged her visa on her old passport. She then reported the matter to the director of the firm, Nikhil Sood, who while accepting the mistake, requested Kaur to be at Delhi Airport to take her flight and assured her that he would arrange her Visa on her new passport in between. Kaur thus travelled to Delhi from Chandigarh with her sister. Kaur alleged that while the flight departed at 6.10 pm, she received a new visa on WhatsApp message, from Sood, at 10.27 pm, and was of no use by then. She thus filed a formal complaint at Forum on January 11, 2018.

Yourflight Travels India in reply submitted that issuance of visa over the old passport was a human/technical error and for which Kaur was entirely responsible as same could have been averted if she had been a cautious and responsible traveller. They said that the soft copy of the visa was forwarded to her day before her flight’s departure, however, Kaur reacted late. Meanwhile, on December 26, 2017 she was informed that she may travel to Dubai without any delay, at around 3:20 pm, but she disconnected the call. The information about approval of visa was thus given through WhatsApp and the same was acknowledged by her.

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The Forum, in its judgment released on August 19, held that the intimation regarding the correct issue of visa was given to Kaur only on December 27, 2017 at 10.27 pm, by which time her flight had a;ready departed. The forum added that she was made to run from pillar to post for no fault on her part.

The forum thus directed the travel firm, through its director, to refund Rs 1,59,705, along with Rs 15,000 as compensation and Rs 10,000 as cost of litigation.