Chhattisgarh consumer court orders hotel refund, cites COVID lockdown as 'act of god'

RAIPUR: In a significant judgment, the Chhattisgarh State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ruled in favour of a complainant seeking full refund of his hotel booking advance, observing that cancellation due to the Covid-19 lockdown qualifies as an "act of God" and falls under unforeseen circumstances beyond the consumer's control.
With the aforesaid judgment, the State Commission allowed an appeal filed by a consumer against the order of the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission, Bilaspur, which had earlier directed only a partial refund of Rs 50,000—half of the advance amount paid.
The case pertained to Hotel Intercity International, Bilaspur, booking made by the complainant, Vikas Kumar Gupta, for his brother’s wedding, scheduled on April 21-22, 2021.
An advance of Rs 1,00,000 was paid for the total booking amount of Rs 4,91,000. However, due to government-imposed lockdowns in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the event could not be held on the planned dates. Despite attempts to reschedule the wedding, the hotel refused to honour the booking or refund the advance.
The District Commission, in its June 2024 order, acknowledged that the lockdown was an unforeseen event but allowed only a 50% refund, citing the hotel's entitlement to retain part of the amount as administrative charges.
However, the State Commission observed that the District Commission's rationale to deduct 50% lacked justification. The bench noted that the entire Bilaspur district was declared a containment zone by the Collector from April 14 to May 6, 2021—effectively covering and extending beyond the scheduled wedding dates.
The commission emphasized that, given the official restrictions, the hotel could not have hosted any events during that period and likely did not suffer losses as alleged.
The bench, comprising Justice Gautam Chourdiya, President of the State Commisison, and Member Pramod Kumar Varma, stated, "The respondent could neither have made arrangements nor could they have entertained other bookings during the lockdown period.
The deduction of 50% under the head of administrative charges is not justified. Full refund is appropriate to serve the ends of justice."
Accordingly, the commission modified the District Commission's order, directing the hotel to refund the full advance amount of Rs 1,00,000 to the complainant. The earlier directions regarding compensation for mental agony (Rs 5,000) and litigation cost (Rs 2,000) within 45 days were upheld.
The judgment reiterates the principle that consumer protection laws must factor in extraordinary circumstances like pandemics, and that contractual terms cannot override fairness and equity in such cases.