Bengaluru Man Duped By Fake Lucky Draw, Wins Rs 1.95 Lakh Refund From Travel Firm
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A Bengaluru court ordered Fala Holidays to refund Rs 1.5 lakh with interest and compensation to Hafeez Pasha, who was misled by a fake lucky draw offer. The company was found guilty of unfair trade practices.
Bengaluru: What began as a fun activity at a mall turned into a long and stressful experience for a 30-year-old Bengaluru man named Hafeez Pasha. After filling out a lucky draw form at RMZ Galleria Mall in Yelahanka, Pasha had no idea it would lead to a financial trap involving a forced travel membership worth Rs 1.5 lakh.
Thankfully, after a year of struggle, the Bengaluru Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ruled in his favour, ordering the travel company, Fala Holiday Packages, to refund his money with interest and also pay compensation and damages.
According to a Media report, Pasha visited the RMZ Galleria Mall and filled out a lucky dip form being run by a company named Fala Holidays. Later that evening, he received a call from an executive named Tasmiya.
She informed him that he had won free gifts and said,
“You have won free movie tickets, a silver coin, and a complimentary travel package.”
She then invited him to collect these gifts from their office located in Yelahanka New Town.
Excited by the offer, Pasha and his wife went to the office expecting to collect the promised freebies. But instead of gifts, they were subjected to heavy pressure and marketing tactics to buy an expensive holiday membership plan.
Despite telling the staff that he couldn’t afford it, Pasha said they continued to convince him. He mentioned that a person named Javid was especially aggressive and kept insisting he should buy the membership.
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Pasha shared that he was promised
“21 days of vacations and 10 day-outings”
as part of the Rs 1.5 lakh package.
Even though Pasha was hesitant and mentioned his financial problems, he finally agreed to sign up due to the intense pressure.
But very soon, he started facing problems. Just one month after joining, he requested a trip to the Andaman Islands — a part of the promised holiday service.
But the agency rejected his request and didn’t provide any proper reason. He made multiple follow-ups, but no one responded.
With the agency not giving him any service and the burden of credit card EMIs piling up, Pasha sent a legal notice to the company in September 2024.
However, Fala Holidays did not respond to the notice. Feeling cheated, Pasha approached the Bangalore Urban District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on November 13, 2024, and filed a complaint under deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.
The company failed to appear before the commission during the hearings and was declared ex-parte. After going through all the documents provided by Pasha, the Commission concluded that Fala Holidays was guilty of engaging in unfair trade practices.
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The court then ordered Fala Holidays to return Rs 1.5 lakh to Pasha, along with 10% interest from the date of payment.
In addition to the refund, the court also directed the company to pay Rs 25,000 to Pasha as compensation for mental agony and harassment. Rs 10,000 was also awarded towards litigation expenses, and another Rs 10,000 was to be deposited as punitive damages in the consumer welfare fund.
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