Vadodara: The Vadodara consumer forum has held a travel agency responsible for the visa rejection of its customer and ordered to pay him Rs 50,000. The forum has also ordered the agency to pay the consumer for mental harassment. Mahendra Jangad, a resident of Gandhidham, had approached city-based Secure Visa and Immigration in 2017 as he wanted to visit Canada.
Jangad said that he was promised that he would get a visa, following which he gave Rs 50,000 to the agency, including the visa fee, in July 2017. In Sept 2017, he got a reply from the Canada consulate that his visa application had been rejected due to a lack of necessary details. When Jangad contacted the agency, he was told that they were not responsible for the visa rejection and hence they couldn’t refund the money.
Jangad then filed a complaint in the Vadodara District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (additional) in October 2017. The opponent replied to the forum by a letter that it had clarified to the complainant that the fee was non-refundable and a separate affidavit was also done. The forum, however, said that such an affidavit was against the consumer’s interest and hence it cannot be taken note of.
The forum also held the agency responsible for not furnishing all the necessary details in the complainant’s visa application. The forum observed that the complainant would suffer a mental blow due to his visa rejection and ordered the opponent to pay Rs 50,000 to Jangad with nine per cent interest from the date of the complaint filed. The forum also ordered the agency to pay Rs 10,000 for mental harassment and Rs 5,000 towards legal costs to Jangad.
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Banned TISS students forum writes to chancellor The Progressive Students' Forum (PSF) at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) responded to its recent ban by writing a 10-page letter to the chancellor. The PSF claims the ban is 'undemocratic' and 'unlawful,' requesting intervention to revoke the decision. The TISS Teachers Association supported the forum, stating the ban violates UGC guidelines.
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