Consumer Court Finds MakeMyTrip Guilty of Unfair Practices

Mumbai, July 2 (PTI) A Mumbai consumer court has found MakeMyTrip (MMT) guilty of service deficiency and unfair trade practices for failing to respond adequately to fraudulent transactions and imposing unauthorized cancellation charges on a customer’s air tickets.

The court has directed MMT to compensate the customer by paying the remaining airfare of Rs 61,608, an amount of Rs 6,260 for an unauthorized transaction, with an annual interest of 6% starting from November 1, 2019. Additionally, MMT is ordered to pay Rs 50,000 for mental agony and harassment and Rs 20,000 for legal expenses, totaling Rs 1.37 lakh.

On June 30, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Mumbai Suburban (Additional), criticized MMT for deducting cancellation charges without any mutually agreed terms with the complainant. The company's response to the verdict is still awaited.

The commission emphasized that companies should promptly follow up when they become aware of any compromises to customer data or fraudulent activity. Simply advising customers to report the issue to cyber police is insufficient. MMT cannot evade its responsibility to protect customers' financial and private information, the commission observed.

The commission pointed out that as a pan-India service provider with a vast customer base, MMT should have a standard operating procedure (SOP) for addressing such complaints. The absence of such a procedure is concerning, the commission added.

The case involved a complainant from Ghatkopar who booked flight tickets for his family through MMT for a round trip from Mumbai to Hong Kong in 2019. He claimed the total cost was Rs 70,800 and Rs 77,609 for the onward and return journey, respectively.

According to the complaint, the customer received an SMS indicating the cancellation of the tickets without his consent. MMT refunded only Rs 20,192 and Rs 15,165 for the tickets, an amount much lower than what the airlines indicated, which was Rs 45,465 and Rs 51,400.

The complainant also reported unauthorized transactions through his MMT online wallet, resulting in bookings from New Delhi to Moscow and Lucknow to Jaipur, without his consent. He claimed a total loss of Rs 1,24,844 due to low refunds and fraudulent transactions.

In its defense, MMT claimed that the complainant had canceled the bookings himself and that refunds were processed according to their policy. The company also stated that the money lost in fraudulent transactions had already been refunded.

After reviewing the case documents, the commission found no specific terms in MMT's user agreement addressing cancellation policies. Given that MMT acts as a facilitator, it should understand that its role is limited to booking tickets, the commission stated.

Regarding the fraudulent transactions, the commission pointed out that MMT refunded one such transaction after deducting some amount, which indicates that the company was aware of the issue. It was MMT's duty to investigate the matter, file a police complaint, and gather evidence with all parties involved, including the complainant.

Instead, MMT refunded only a portion of the fraudulently transacted amount, which the commission deemed "highly objectionable and unacceptable."

The commission concluded that MMT and its suburban Borivali office attempted to cover up the issue, finding them guilty of service deficiency and unfair trade practices for wrongfully deducting cancellation fees and failing to respond to fraudulent transactions.

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