MakeMyTrip, HDFC fight over Jet tickets

New Delhi: More than six months after Jet Airways grounded all its flights, travel portal MakeMyTrip and HDFC Bank are engaged in a legal battle over refund of tickets that got cancelled after the airline went bust, people familiar with the matter told ET.MakeMyTrip has filed a case in the Delhi High Court accusing HDFC Bank of deducting money from its accounts to refund customers who had booked Jet Airways tickets - which eventually turned void as flights got cancelled—on MMT platform using HDFC Bank credit and debit cards.MMT lawyers argued that HDFC Bank has been deducting full ticket amounts even though the Gurugram-based ticketing portal had already paid the ticket charges to Jet after deducting its small convenience fees. Hence, it is the airline that is liable for payment and not MMT, they told the court. HDFC Bank’s lawyers, in the subsequent hearings, argued that the bank has deducted money out of a separate merchant account and has done it in accordance with a “merchant agreement” it has signed with its merchant, MMT, and that the bank is very much 'within rights' to do so as per the agreement.In an interim order on September 26, the High Court has asked HDFC Bank to keep the money it deducts from MMT in a “separate suspense account” and not to remit it back to the customers till the next date of hearing in January. “The matter is in court of law and is sub judice,” said Ateev Mathur, a lawyer representing HDFC Bank. “The bank is taking steps to file its reply before the court to challenge the claim, which the bank will do in accordance with law.”A spokesperson for MMT declined to comment saying the matter is sub judice. In its lawsuit, MMT argued that the onus of refund of tickets lies with airline or its agents and not with portals like MMT as per civil aviation rules, and argued that MMT is just a facilitator. HDFC Bank lawyers also pointed out that there are other necessary parties like electronic payment facilitators Mastercard, Visa, RuPay and Diners, and they have not been impleaded as parties by MMT, according to the court documents.Jet Airways, which was India's largest private carrier, ceased its operations early this year amid heavy losses on the back of high cost of operations and lower revenues. The airline is going through bankruptcy proceedings, where the NCLT is looking for prospective investors for the airline.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/2N26uyg