Bengaluru: A couple holding permanent residency (PR) in Australia has sued ticketing portal MakeMyTrip for failing to inform them that a transit visa to Malaysia is mandatory for Indian passport holders, which led to them being denied boarding at the Bengaluru airport and loss of money through ticket cancellation and rebooking.
A city consumer court has ordered the portal to pay the couple Rs 62,000.
RK Pawan, a chef in Australia, and his wife Deepa Gazamer, arrived in Bengaluru from Melbourne on December 11, 2016 to visit their parents. They booked their return tickets for January 12, 2017 on SriLankan Airlines through the MakeMyTrip website. They had planned to fly to Melbourne from Bengaluru via Colombo and Kuala Lumpur with a two-day stopover to explore the Malaysian capital.
However, their travel plan got derailed when they reached Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on the evening of January 12, 2017.
Staffers at the SriLankan Airlines counter who checked their tickets at KIA refused to allow the couple to board, saying they didn’t have transit visas for Malaysia. But the couple argued with them, claiming they held Australian PR and were eligible for Transit Without Visa (TWOV) and stay of five days in Malaysia.
With SriLankan Airlines staffers standing their ground and MakeMyTrip call centre failing to respond to their calls, the couple was forced to cancel their Melbourne tickets, which cost about Rs 50,000. They were asked to record their statement with airport police before leaving KIA. They later rebooked the tickets via Bangkok for the following day by paying Rs 1.2 lakh.
Having been subjected to hardship and lost money, the couple lodged a complaint against SriLankan Airlines and MakeMyTrip (India) Pvt Ltd with the Bangalore Urban district consumer disputes redressal forum on July 14, 2017 for deficiency of service.
15/09/19 Petlee Peter/Times of India
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A city consumer court has ordered the portal to pay the couple Rs 62,000.
RK Pawan, a chef in Australia, and his wife Deepa Gazamer, arrived in Bengaluru from Melbourne on December 11, 2016 to visit their parents. They booked their return tickets for January 12, 2017 on SriLankan Airlines through the MakeMyTrip website. They had planned to fly to Melbourne from Bengaluru via Colombo and Kuala Lumpur with a two-day stopover to explore the Malaysian capital.
However, their travel plan got derailed when they reached Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on the evening of January 12, 2017.
Staffers at the SriLankan Airlines counter who checked their tickets at KIA refused to allow the couple to board, saying they didn’t have transit visas for Malaysia. But the couple argued with them, claiming they held Australian PR and were eligible for Transit Without Visa (TWOV) and stay of five days in Malaysia.
With SriLankan Airlines staffers standing their ground and MakeMyTrip call centre failing to respond to their calls, the couple was forced to cancel their Melbourne tickets, which cost about Rs 50,000. They were asked to record their statement with airport police before leaving KIA. They later rebooked the tickets via Bangkok for the following day by paying Rs 1.2 lakh.
Having been subjected to hardship and lost money, the couple lodged a complaint against SriLankan Airlines and MakeMyTrip (India) Pvt Ltd with the Bangalore Urban district consumer disputes redressal forum on July 14, 2017 for deficiency of service.
15/09/19 Petlee Peter/Times of India
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