PANJIM: The unregistered travel operators are likely to face action from the Department of Tourism as incidents of duping gullible travellers of their hard-earned money by depriving them of tours to the Holy Land have come to light.
Complaints have been lodged with the consumer forum seeking refund of money amounting to lakhs of rupees, which was received by a Calangute-based tours and travels operator for providing the service.
One of the complainants, Rosa Fernandes from Seraulim, told O Heraldo that she paid Rs 3.25 lakh in March this year for the trip, which was scheduled from April 23, 2023.
“The tour operator had promised us that he would take us on tour. I was charged Rs 1.30 lakh per person but I had to pay half the amount for each family member. We being five members, accordingly I paid Rs 3.25 lakh. The operator said visas were not received because of tensions in Israel. He promised us to refund the money as soon as possible and asked us to join another tour which I was not interested in as dates were clashing with children’s schools. Now, we have approached the consumer forum. He attended the hearing where he confessed that his establishment is not registered legally. He has received licence only from the village panchayat and not from the Department of Tourism. Now, the next hearing has been fixed next month. He has delayed the tour dates. Now, I have learnt that people are leaving on September 30, 2023. But I do not trust the operator now,” she said.
Fernandes said that she came to know about the establishment through an advertisement published in the newspaper.
Rosemary Monteiro, another complainant from St Inez, Panjim, said, “I had booked a tour to the Holy Land with the proprietor Robin Rodrigues. We came to know about this advertisement through a newspaper. It was also announced in the St Inez Church. Altogether 16 of us were supposed to leave. We paid Rs 60,000 in November last year. The tour was scheduled from April 23 and we were supposed to return on May 3, 2023. However, due to internal issues in Israel, visas could not be arranged by him. He gave us the option of returning money or sending us in the next batch fixed on September 19, 2023. I could not make it. Now, four months have passed, but he has not refunded our money. We visited his house with other travellers but he refused to meet us. Now I have lodged a complaint with the consumer forum.”
The Department of Tourism said that it will initiate action against a travel agency, which has allegedly not taken the faithful on a tour to Israel nor has refunded the money to them.
Deputy Director of Tourism Kuldeep Arolkar said that the Department is aware of the incident and action will be taken against the tour operator.
“Yes we are aware of the case. There is a complaint lodged against the tour operator in the Consumer Forum and we have been made a party to it. The next hearing is on October 5, 2023. The tour operator is not registered with the Department of Tourism. We will impose a fine and ask him to shut down or get registered with the department,” he said.
