During the lockdown in 2020, banquet halls remained closed for almost the whole year. Even when it was time for weddings, business was slow due to increasing Corona cases. Due to Corona lockdown, the pace of people's life had stopped. Many types of restrictions were imposed by the central and state governments. In such a situation, the amount taken in the name of booking the banquet hall should have been returned. A consumer court in the national capital made this comment while giving its verdict in favor of a person.
Fine imposed for causing mental pain
A consumer court has directed a private company to refund a deposit of Rs 1 lakh to a person who had booked a marriage hall in June 2020 but could not use it due to the Covid-19 lockdown. District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Delhi's Kashmere Gate, Chairman Inder Jeet Singh and member Rashmi Bansal imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the group for causing mental agony to the complainant and directed it to pay Rs 5,000 as litigation expenses.
Marriage hall did not return the advance amount
The Central Delhi District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum was hearing a plea alleging that Wedding Opera (a unit of SG Hospitality) had embezzled Rs 1 lakh deposited for booking a marriage hall for a wedding ceremony on June 29, 2020. The money was not returned. According to the complainant Sunil Kumar Khurana, Wedding Opera neither rescheduled the wedding ceremony to a later date nor refunded the booking amount despite repeated requests, causing mental agony and hardship to him as well as financial loss.
Instructions to return the amount with 6% interest
The forum had given its verdict on October 15 and it became available recently. “The respondent (Wedding Opera) improperly retained the amount paid by the complainant, especially when there was a nationwide lockdown ordered by the government… There is no fault of the complainant,” the forum said. The forum directed the group to refund the amount with six per cent interest from the date of deposit (March 12, 2020) apart from fine and litigation cost. (with language inputs)
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