TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Taking note of the hardships caused to a woman, who was scheduled to travel to Goa from Mumbai in a private bus, District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, South, has directed the travel agents to pay her Rs 30,000 as compensation.
The forum held Ms Neeta Volvo, Mumbai, Ms Neeta Volvo, Panjim and Ms Travel Systems, Verna, liable for causing great hardship to Maria Ezildinha Gracias, who missed her bus to Goa, due to poor coordination between the travel agents.
Maria, who approached the forum alleging deficiency in service, said when she came to the boarding point for her return journey at CBD Bellapur below the bridge at 9.25 pm, the bus did not turn up till 11.45 pm, prompting her to approach a nearby police post for help after four men attempted to approach her in a suspicious manner. She was later informed that the bus had already reached Panvel and that nothing could be done to help her.
The forum headed by president S Prabhu and member Savita G Kurtarkar observed, “We are of the opinion that the travel agents must have been purposely not mentioning the number of the bus on which the passengers are expected to board on the said date. This confusion is created by travel agents only to wriggle out of mistakes they make and put passengers to hardship. The return ticket therefore not only has to reflect the destination properly, but also the bus and its registration number.”
