Thailand trip with wife got cancelled due to illness, Rs 40,000 advance refund refused to stroke-striken husband; Court orders tour operator to pay Rs 57,000

A holiday to Thailand, booked for two, never took off. The man from Kannur had paid an advance of Rs 40,000 to a travel company for a package trip with his wife, scheduled for March 9, 2026. Weeks before the trip, he suffered a stroke with seizures and was declared medically unfit to travel by his doctor. He asked the company to cancel the tour and return his money.

The tour operator kept asking for more documents, first a medical certificate, then scanned copies of his passport, and still did not refund a rupee. The man moved consumer court, and the commission has now ruled in his favour, ordering the company to refund his advance along with compensation for the mental agony he went through.

What happened to the Thailand trip he booked with his wife?


The man had booked the trip along with his wife and paid Rs 40,000 as advance on January 24, 2026, for a package that cost Rs 54,900 in total for both of them. On February 6, 2026, he was admitted for treatment at a hospital in Kannur after suffering a stroke with symptomatic seizures. His doctor certified that he was not medically fit to travel. With the departure date just over a month away, he informed the tour operator and asked for the trip to be cancelled and his money refunded.

Why did the tour operator still not refund the money after he sent all the documents asked for?

The tour operator first refused the refund outright, then asked for a medical certificate. The man sent it over WhatsApp the same day it was issued. The company then asked for scanned copies of his passport as well, which he also sent right away. Despite this, several rounds of messages to the company's staff went unanswered in writing. The man also pointed out that after his cancellation, the operator advertised the same tour slots to new customers on social media and filled all 70 seats, so there was no actual loss of capacity that could justify withholding his refund.

What did the tour operator argue in its defence?

The company's defence was that by the time the cancellation came through, it had already booked non-refundable air tickets worth around Rs 33,750 for the two travellers, and had incurred service charges of Rs 5,500 per passenger plus GST, adding up to about Rs 13,098. Put together, the company said its expenses came to Rs 50,854, which was more than the Rs 40,000 advance, leaving nothing to refund. It argued that non-refundable air tickets and taxes are standard practice in the tour industry and not something within its control. However, the company did not appear before the commission to press this defence and filed no evidence to back its claims.

What did the tour operator's own cancellation policy actually say?

The commission examined the tour operator's own cancellation policy, which was placed on record as evidence. It stated that a cancellation made 30 days or more before departure would attract only a 25 percent cancellation charge, with the remaining 75 percent of the tour cost refundable. The man had cancelled 34 days before departure, well within that window. Going by the company's own terms, 75 percent of the Rs 54,900 package cost, which comes to Rs 41,175, should have been refunded. Instead, he received nothing.

What did the consumer commission finally order?

The bench held that the tour operator's refusal to refund the money, despite the man meeting every document requirement, amounted to deficiency of service and unfair trade practice. It ordered the company to refund the Rs 40,000 advance, along with Rs 10,000 as compensation for mental agony and Rs 7,000 towards litigation cost, bringing the total to Rs 57,000. The company has been given 30 days to pay. If it fails to do so, the Rs 40,000 refund amount will carry 9 percent interest per year from the date of the order until it is actually paid, and the man has been given the liberty to execute the order under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019