The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Jalna has ordered an online hotel booking website to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation to a customer whose booking was accepted, but the hotel was overbooked.
Commission’s president Nilima Sant, along with its members Nita Kankariya and Manjusha Chitlange, unanimously held that when the customer had booked the hotel through the website, it was the service provider’s prime responsibility to provide accommodation.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission also observed that the company should not have taken any bookings for the hotel through its website when all the rooms were booked. Jalna-based industrialist Raghunandan Rathi on Jan 13, 2020, had booked a Mumbai-based hotel using the online hotel booking website for Jan 16 & 17, 2020. At the time of booking, he had selected the “pay at hotel” option. Rathi accompanied by his father reached the said hotel, only to be informed that the hotel was sold out.
Representing the Rathis, Advocate Mahesh Dhannawat lodged a suit complaining of deficiency in service & demanded Rs 1 lakh as compensation, apart from Rs 25,000 for mental harassment.
Dhannawat contested that Rathi's had opted for the first hotel as it was situated close to the trade fair they had planned to attend. After reaching the hotel, he was offered accommodation at another hotel, but as it was situated at some distance the Rathi's made their own arrangements. This was followed by Rathi's filing a complaint with the consumer court.
The Commission took cognizance of the fact that the alleged act has caused mental agony to the customer. When contacted, website’s lawyer Shekhar Agrawal said, “We contested before the commission that we are undergoing insolvency process & the matter is before the National Company Law Tribunal. As per law, when a case is pending before the NCLT, all the creditors or claimants can only file a claim at NCLT & no anywhere else.”
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