A city-based family, which was robbed during a trip to South Africa, was in for a relief after a consumer forum ruled that the agency which had arranged for their travel cannot wash their hands off of the safety of their customers. The forum ordered the company to pay ₹2 lakh as compensation and ₹70,000 towards loss of property.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum Hyderabad – III was dealing with a complaint filed by Avinash Gupta (64) who said he had approached Beacon Holidays Pvt. Ltd. for a 10-day South Africa package tour. It included round-trip tickets, accommodation and entry tickets to certain places, for which ₹3.46 lakh was paid.
However, on June 18, 2016, the last day of their trip, after they had checked out of their hotel, the car in which they were travelling was intercepted by unknown persons who robbed them of their valuables and $600. The complainant also alleged that the driver was in cahoots with those who had robbed them.
A complaint was registered at a local police station. The incident was also brought to the attention of the Tourism Business Council of South Africa.
For its part, the travel agency stated that this was the first time that their customers had been robbed. They also said that their South African vendors are persons of repute and that they are not responsible for the robbery.
Taking submissions of both parties into consideration, the forum stated that the travel agency cannot wash its hands off of the ‘ill fated incident’ and that the complainant is liable to be compensated on a ‘non-standard basis’.
Apart from ₹2 lakh as compensation and ₹70,000 towards loss of valuables, it imposed costs of ₹5,000.
