District Consumer Redressal Forum has ordered a banquet hall owner here to pay a compensation of Rs 20,000 along with the advance payment to a customer and held that the terms and conditions laid down by the businessman were "harsh and one-sided."
Forum president Sneha Mhatre and member N D Kadam ordered owner of Regal Banquet Hall to pay Rs 65,000, which include refund sum, to complainant Vishwanath Valvatkar.
According to Valvatkar, a resident of Byculla, he had booked the hall in April, 2012 for her daughter's wedding that was scheduled in December that year. He had also paid Rs 50,000 as advance, but the marriage was later cancelled.
Subsequently, he approached the hall owner asking for the refund. However, Valvatkar was turned down by him, saying that the matter would be discussed with the management. Despite several reminders, he was not returned the money, following which he filed a complaint with consumer forum.
The management of the hall contested the complaint and said that as per conditions in the agreement, if cancellation is done 60 days prior to the function, the customer has to pay Rs 1,25,000 to them. They also sought additional Rs 75,000 from Valvatkar.
The respondent told the forum that he had informed the hall management about the cancellation 74 days prior to the scheduled marriage date, and hence, the conditions in the agreement were arbitrary. He also stated that the signature on the agreement was not his.
The forum noted that the respondent failed to prove that the signature on the agreement was that of Valvatkar.
"A look at the conditions laid down in the agreement indicates that in case if a person is forced to cancel the booking due to some unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances, the conditions were harsh, uncompounded and one sided," the forum noted.
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