Apsrtc and Others Vs. V.C. Reddappa Reddy and Another - Court Judgment

SooperKanoon Citationsooperkanoon.com/1112438
SubjectLand Acquisition
CourtAndhra Pradesh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission SCDRC Hyderabad
Decided OnJun-23-2005
Case NumberFA No. 374 of 2005
JudgeI. Venkatanarayana, President &Amp; the Honourable Mrs. Merla Shreesha, Member
AppellantApsrtc and Others
RespondentV.C. Reddappa Reddy and Another
Excerpt:
consumer protection act, 1986 - section 2(1)(g) - comparative citations: 2006 (1) clt 96, 2005 (4) cpj 208i. venkatanarayana, president: 1. the opposite parties are the appellants. 2. aggrieved by the order of the district forum, chittoor in cd no. 79 of 2004 dated 18.11.2004, the present appeal has been filed under section 15 of the c.p. act. 3. the facts leading to the filing of this appeal are set out as hereunder. 4. the opposite party road transport corporation has introduced a scheme ‘apsrtc jubilee hi-tech ticket for rs. 675 to its passengers to travel anywhere within andhra pradesh state in its all types of services except ac and ac sleeper coach buses for a period of seven days. attracted by the aforementioned scheme the complainants have purchased two tickets bearing nos. 15672 and 15673 on 3.10.2003 which are valid up to 24th hour of 9.10.2003 to have their trip to hyderabad, basara and vijayawada. the complainants started their journey on the evening of 3.10.2003 from chittoor to hyderabad. from hyderabad they went to basara through nizamabad on 6.10.2003 morning and returned on the same day to hyderabad. after that the complainants have started their journey to vijayawada on the morning of 8.10.2003 through no. 1050 service bearing no. 8875 of gannavaram depot and when the said bus reached jaggaiahpeta, the driver has taken the bus to the depot stating that there is trouble and after 1 hour it was informed to the passengers that the bus could not be repaired and another semi-luxury bus of jaggaiahpeta depot was arranged. the said bus reached vijayawada two hours late. on account of the aforementioned delay they could not visit all the places at vijayawada and hence they postponed their journey to next day to go to chittoor. on 9.10.2003 they reached pandit nehru bus station, vijayawada at about 10.10 a.m. to return to chittoor and presented their tickets in the reservation counter no. 3 to reserve seats in vijayawada-bangalore hi-tech bus service scheduled at 12 noon and when the clerk is about to give the reservation the concerned supervisor instructed him not to issue the reservation. when they approached the supervisor for inquiry he directed the complainants to approach the third opposite party who is working as assistant manager (traffic) in the said bus station. when they approached the third opposite party for clarification he gave evasive reply and that the second opposite party has given instructions to them not to allow the jubilee hi-tech ticket holders in the said service as it is an inter-state service. this objection is untenable since the complainant have asked reservation up to chittoor only and moreover the instructions in the said jubilee hi-tech ticket only bars journey outside the state of a.p. and in ac and ac sleeper coach services only. the said service is only hi-tech service bearing bus no. ap11 z 1093. in spite of several requests made by the complainants the third opposite party has not permitted the complainants to board the bus and ill-treated them. the complainants stated that there is no other hi-tech service at that time to reach chittoor or tirupati. since there is no other bus the complainants have get the seats in vijayawada-kuppam super express bus service scheduled at 1.00 p.m. up to chittoor. it is their case that the driver of kuppam bus has issued ticket upto tirupati only as by the time reaching tirupati the 24th hour of 9.10.2003 will be completed and the tickets are valid up to that time only. hence it necessitated the complainants to purchase tickets from tirupati to chittoor by spending an amount of rs. 60. 5. it is the case of the complainants that even though the complainants are having the hi-tech tickets they were forced to travel in the express service with inconvenience from vijayawada to chittoor with their child. all this happened since they were not allowed to board hi-tech bus service scheduled at 12.00 noon at vijayawada by the third opposite party. the aforementioned acts on the part of the opposite parties constitute deficiency of service. the complainants therefore issued a legal notice and subsequently approached the district forum for appropriate relief. 6. the first opposite party filed a counter admitting that the complainants have purchased the tickets, which are valid up to 24 hours on 9.10.2003. it is stated that the complainants have not given any complaint in writing in the complaint book. it is further stated that there is no restrictions on j.h.t. holders to travel in any inter-state buses within a.p. it is also stated that the j.h.t. tickets issued to the complainants can travel in all category services subject to availability of services to any area and on prescribed times. they denied that they caused mental agony and strain to the complainants. 7. based on the pleadings and exs. a1 to a12 the district forum came to the conclusion that there is deficiency of service on the part of the opposite parties and accordingly allowed the complaint and directed the opposite parties to pay a sum of rs. 3,000 to each of the complainants and to pay a sum of rs. 1,000 towards costs. 8. aggrieved by the said order, the present appeal has been filed. 9. mr. k. srinivasa rao, the learned counsel for the appellants submitted that the jubilee hi-tech tickets issued to the respondents/complainants allow them to travel in all categories of services subject to availability of reservation and bus service at the prescribed times. 10. we have gone through the record. the appellants except denying the allegations made by the respondents/complainants did not choose to establish that the respondents/complainants were treated with courtesy, as any passenger deserves. the third appellant did not choose to file any document specifically denying or clarifying about the rash and negligent answer. the appellant is a state road transport corporation and they are bound to treat the passengers with care and courtesy with which they deserve. the respondents/complainants have purchased the tickets under a particular scheme and they were expecting travel in a comfortable manner but ultimately they have travelled in express service instead of hi-tech bus service. taking all these facts into consideration we are of the considered opinion that the district forum was justified in allowing the complaint. the order impugned is a reasoned order and suffers from no infirmity and does not call for any interference by this commission in exercise of its appellate power. the appeal, therefore, fails and is accordingly dismissed. time for compliance six weeks. appeal dismissed.
Judgment:

I. Venkatanarayana, President:

1. The opposite parties are the appellants.

2. Aggrieved by the order of the District Forum, Chittoor in CD No. 79 of 2004 dated 18.11.2004, the present appeal has been filed under Section 15 of the C.P. Act.

3. The facts leading to the filing of this appeal are set out as hereunder.

4. The opposite party Road Transport Corporation has introduced a scheme ‘APSRTC Jubilee Hi-Tech ticket for Rs. 675 to its passengers to travel anywhere within Andhra Pradesh State in its all types of services except AC and AC sleeper coach buses for a period of seven days. Attracted by the aforementioned scheme the complainants have purchased two tickets bearing Nos. 15672 and 15673 on 3.10.2003 which are valid up to 24th hour of 9.10.2003 to have their trip to Hyderabad, Basara and Vijayawada. The complainants started their journey on the evening of 3.10.2003 from Chittoor to Hyderabad. From Hyderabad they went to Basara through Nizamabad on 6.10.2003 morning and returned on the same day to Hyderabad. After that the complainants have started their journey to Vijayawada on the morning of 8.10.2003 through No. 1050 service bearing No. 8875 of Gannavaram Depot and when the said bus reached Jaggaiahpeta, the driver has taken the bus to the depot stating that there is trouble and after 1 hour it was informed to the passengers that the bus could not be repaired and another semi-luxury bus of Jaggaiahpeta Depot was arranged. The said bus reached Vijayawada two hours late. On account of the aforementioned delay they could not visit all the places at Vijayawada and hence they postponed their journey to next day to go to Chittoor. On 9.10.2003 they reached Pandit Nehru Bus Station, Vijayawada at about 10.10 a.m. to return to Chittoor and presented their tickets in the reservation counter No. 3 to reserve seats in Vijayawada-Bangalore Hi-tech Bus Service scheduled at 12 noon and when the clerk is about to give the reservation the concerned supervisor instructed him not to issue the reservation. When they approached the Supervisor for inquiry he directed the complainants to approach the third opposite party who is working as Assistant Manager (Traffic) in the said bus station. When they approached the third opposite party for clarification he gave evasive reply and that the second opposite party has given instructions to them not to allow the Jubilee Hi-tech ticket holders in the said service as it is an inter-State service. This objection is untenable since the complainant have asked reservation up to Chittoor only and moreover the instructions in the said Jubilee Hi-tech ticket only bars journey outside the State of A.P. and in AC and AC sleeper coach services only. The said service is only Hi-tech service bearing Bus No. AP11 Z 1093. In spite of several requests made by the complainants the third opposite party has not permitted the complainants to board the bus and ill-treated them. The complainants stated that there is no other Hi-Tech service at that time to reach Chittoor or Tirupati. Since there is no other bus the complainants have get the seats in Vijayawada-Kuppam Super Express bus service scheduled at 1.00 p.m. up to Chittoor. It is their case that the driver of Kuppam bus has issued ticket upto Tirupati only as by the time reaching Tirupati the 24th hour of 9.10.2003 will be completed and the tickets are valid up to that time only. Hence it necessitated the complainants to purchase tickets from Tirupati to Chittoor by spending an amount of Rs. 60.

5. It is the case of the complainants that even though the complainants are having the Hi-Tech tickets they were forced to travel in the Express service with inconvenience from Vijayawada to Chittoor with their child. All this happened since they were not allowed to board Hi-Tech bus service scheduled at 12.00 noon at Vijayawada by the third opposite party. The aforementioned acts on the part of the opposite parties constitute deficiency of service. The complainants therefore issued a legal notice and subsequently approached the District Forum for appropriate relief.

6. The first opposite party filed a counter admitting that the complainants have purchased the tickets, which are valid up to 24 hours on 9.10.2003. It is stated that the complainants have not given any complaint in writing in the complaint book. It is further stated that there is no restrictions on J.H.T. holders to travel in any inter-State buses within A.P. It is also stated that the J.H.T. tickets issued to the complainants can travel in all category services subject to availability of services to any area and on prescribed times. They denied that they caused mental agony and strain to the complainants.

7. Based on the pleadings and Exs. A1 to A12 the District Forum came to the conclusion that there is deficiency of service on the part of the opposite parties and accordingly allowed the complaint and directed the opposite parties to pay a sum of Rs. 3,000 to each of the complainants and to pay a sum of Rs. 1,000 towards costs.

8. Aggrieved by the said order, the present appeal has been filed.

9. Mr. K. Srinivasa Rao, the learned Counsel for the appellants submitted that the Jubilee Hi-Tech tickets issued to the respondents/complainants allow them to travel in all categories of services subject to availability of reservation and bus service at the prescribed times.

10. We have gone through the record. The appellants except denying the allegations made by the respondents/complainants did not choose to establish that the respondents/complainants were treated with courtesy, as any passenger deserves. The third appellant did not choose to file any document specifically denying or clarifying about the rash and negligent answer. The appellant is a State Road Transport Corporation and they are bound to treat the passengers with care and courtesy with which they deserve. The respondents/complainants have purchased the tickets under a particular scheme and they were expecting travel in a comfortable manner but ultimately they have travelled in express service instead of Hi-Tech bus service. Taking all these facts into consideration we are of the considered opinion that the District Forum was justified in allowing the complaint. The order impugned is a reasoned order and suffers from no infirmity and does not call for any interference by this Commission in exercise of its appellate power.

The appeal, therefore, fails and is accordingly dismissed. Time for compliance six weeks.

Appeal dismissed.