A Haryana consumer commission has held a hotel in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, guilty of deficiency in service and unfair trade practice for denying accommodation despite a confirmed booking of four rooms. It directed the hotel to pay Rs 25,000 as punitive damages.

A bench of president Gulab Singh and member O P Tuteja of the Fatehabad District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission also ordered a refund of Rs 6,966 if not already done by the online travel booking portal.

“Considering the material on record, there is no ground to disbelieve the complainant because the evidence of the complainant goes unrebutted, and it has been proved that the hotel, despite the booking of a room by the complainant in its property at Vrindavan from March 26, 2022 to March 27, 2022, failed to provide accommodation to the complainant; apart from monetary loss, it caused mental agony , harassment, and humiliation to the complainant,” the commission said on October 7.

It noted that, apart from deficiency in service, the hotel…