Jet Lite (India) Ltd, formerly Sahara Airlines, has been directed by a consumer forum here to pay Rs 14,000 to a customer for failing to refund the cost of a lost ticket and dragging on the issue for eight years.
While directing the airline to pay the amount to Haryana native P K Kohli, the New Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum said the airline ignored its own policy of refund in such cases within 10 days and kept the matter pending for such a long time unnecessarily.
“The opposite party (Jet Lite) instead of gracefully returning the amount of ticket, engaged a lawyer, fought the case and ignored its own policy of refund in such cases within 10 days. We are shocked this small matter is pending for eight years due to unnecessary contention by the opposite party which is acting ‘penny wise and pound foolish’.
“We direct it to refund Rs 4,092 as the amount of the ticket and to pay P K Kohli Rs 5,000 as compensation towards harassment and Rs 5,000 as litigation charges,” said the bench presided by C K Chaturvedi.
In his complaint, P K Kohli had submitted that he had bought a Jet Lite air ticket for Rs 4,092 through its agent for his son, studying in Pune.
He said he had sent the ticket by post to his son, but the letter containing the ticket was not received by him after which he had contacted the airline which had advised him to report the same to the police for blacklisting the ticket, before it can be refunded.
After informing the police, he had written to the airline for refund, which never materialised he had alleged.