Marriage Garden Holds Advance After Wedding Called Off Due To Lockdown

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A marriage garden refused to return the booking amount after the wedding had to be cancelled due to Covid-10 lockdown.

A holiday resorts company went back on its promise of full refund in case the buyer did not like the experience of a sample holiday. And an insurance company said no to pay the claim for accidental death, giving flimsy excuses.  

As consumers many of us face similar situations. However, fearing the hassles involved in filing cases and pursuing them, we often let it go.  On the eve of National Consumer Day, Free Press talked with three aware consumers who fought against big companies and powerful banks and got justice. 

Excerpts:

Life insurance claim

Aakash Sharma, businessman |

My father, Om Prakash Sharma, an Assistant Commandant with the CRPF met with an accident in 2017 and passed away after a long stay in a hospital in 2018. The total hospital bill was Rs 2.15 crore of which, the CRPF paid Rs 1.75 crore and the rest was managed by us by taking loans.

Meanwhile, I came to know that my father had bought Rs 10-lakh insurance on his life from nationalized bank. When we claimed it, the bank came out with all kinds of excuses. In 2022, our lawyer Sarita Rajani filed a case against the nationalized bank in the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum and our lawyer represented us .

The Forum, last month, ordered the Bank to pay the insurance amount with interest, along with compensation for mental agony. The money will not bring my father back but I am happy that justice has been done.

-Aakash Sharma, businessman

Holiday experience turns sour

Vinay Khare, Orthopaedic Surgeon

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In 2018. I bought time-share holidays in the resorts of a Noida-based company for a period of 20 years, paying them Rs 2.25 lakh. They sent me on a three-night-two-day holiday to one of their resorts in Jaipur, charging Rs 5,000, with the promise that if we don’t like the experience, the entire amount would be refunded to us. And we did not like the experience. The facilities were not 5-star as promised and the cost of food (not included in the package) was very high. A bottle of water cost Rs 150! I demanded my money back. But the company refused. In 2019, I filed a case in the Consumer Forum. Advocate Ajay Dubey argued the case. This year, the Forum directed the company to refund the amount to me minus GST, along with interest at the rate of 9% pa.       

-Vinay Khare, Orthopaedic Surgeon  

No fault of our own

Ramesh Sahu, Sales Manager, Varenyam Motors

In 2019, I booked a marriage garden in Bhopal for my sister’s wedding, paying them Rs 50,000 as advance. Soon, the government ordered a countrywide lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.Naturally, the wedding had to be cancelled. However, the marriage garden refused to return the amount, saying that they had made it clear at the time of the booking that in case of cancellation, the advance would be forfeited. My lawyer, Ajay Dubey, argued in the Consumer Forum that the cancellation was not done by us but was the result of a government decision. About three months, the Forum ordered the marriage garden to refund Rs 45,000 to me. I am happy that I have got justice.  

-Ramesh Sahu, Sales Manager, Varenyam Motors